MSE News: Council tax benefit axe 'to hit 2.4 million families' 28 March 2013 at 1:30PM in Cutting Tax 30 replies 3.7K views

Former_MSE_Helen

"Around 2.4 million families face an average hike in their council tax bills of £138 next week, according to a charity..."

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Council tax benefit axe 'to hit 2.4 million families'



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UsetheFORCE

Some people haven't even received the bills yet and are not aware that there is an issue!!!

On a side note, I though JSA etc was supposed to be 'what the law says you need to live on'? so please can someone explain how that relates to effectively taking a percent of peoples benefits off them???

poppydonuts

South Staffs Mom p/time working home owner has 399% £750 council tax liability hike whilst denied child support by government. This is largely due to the councils decision to include child benefit as income. As my ex Husband is now a student, he has NIL financial liability for our daughters.
Is it really fair for my local council to be targeting child benefit payments, intended for the good of children in low income families for the purpose of supporting others?
I find it very distasteful.

Wywth

"This tax hike will push people into poverty or cause more hardship for already very poor households, taking money from families who had little to start with."

As David Cameron keeps asking in the Commons, how on earth is a welfare reform ever a tax?

A tax, under his definition, is when someone goes out and earns money, their money, and the government then comes along and takes it away.

Now if you want to look at council tax increases without the Daily Mail/Labour spin on it, take a serious look at the increases in council tax owners of long term empty properties are incurring.

A removal of a possible 50% discount and a surcharge of up to 50% on the full amount owed for that band, so possibly 3x more than last year. Whilst the removal of the discount may not be considered a tax, the surcharge certainly is.

UsetheFORCE

Wywth wrote: »

As David Cameron keeps asking in the Commons, how on earth is a welfare reform ever a tax?

A tax, under his definition, is when someone goes out and earns money, their money, and the government then comes along and takes it away.

Now if you want to look at council tax increases without the Daily Mail/Labour spin on it, take a serious look at the increases in council tax owners of long term empty properties are incurring.

A removal of a possible 50% discount and a surcharge of up to 50% on the full amount owed for that band, so possibly 3x more than last year. Whilst the removal of the discount may not be considered a tax, the surcharge certainly is.

If the property is empty for longer than say 6 months then they should pay the tax like everyone else!!! That property should have someone living in it paying the tax so if it is empty then the owner should pay!

I agree with you on the surcharge though.

jamesd

Or that property can be demolished so it's not necessary to pay the tax. Which is what happened to lots of commercial properties when something similar happened to them. But for many residential properties the tax won't be high enough to make demolishing the way to go.

A long term vacant property is likely to have reasons for being empty, since it costs just to have it sat empty. That can be anything from needing refurbishment to being for a person in hospital or for a person who will need to move in but not yet.

Nada666

How many HOUSEHOLDS is it going to affect?

UsetheFORCE

Nada666 wrote: »

How many HOUSEHOLDS is it going to affect?

Around 2.4 million as the thread title headline suggests???

chanz4

I look at a few ways, people on benefits dont pay for:

housing
council tax
repairs

So although their income is low add them all up and you get a lot of peoples working wage, whom get no help

poppydonuts

Sorry but I have to dispute what you have said.
Some People on low incomes Do pay for housing.
They Do pay for repairs and they Do pay towards their council tax bill already, but at a discounted rate.

NPowerUser

A mini poll tax via the back door.

Everyone should pay a contribution, no matter how small, if they are getting something for nothing off the state.

Someone has to pay for rubbish being collected, police, schools etc.