What's the Future of Child Benefit?

glentoran99

Jon_B wrote: »

The current system is poor.

You either abolish it altogether

Or you do away with the earnings cap. It is fundamentally wrong that somebody who earns £60k a year and by default pays substantially more into the tax pot than somebody on £10k a year does not get the child benefit. Imagine if they did the same with the NHS? Sorry, anybody earning over £60k has to pay for their healthcare?!

I don't earn even £50k, so I am not bitter.

I'd rather child benefit went into a high interest trust fund for the benefit of the individual children only.

In my household the £82.80 goes into my account and I then transfer it into a kids savings account in my daughters name accruing 3% interest annually.

That's flawed logic, by that reckoning anyone not working and not paying tax shouldn't get any benefits, People earning 100k a year should get working tax credits because those earning 10k do? that's not how the system works

Mistermeaner

Bin it. It's a silly 'benefit' that is incoherently means tested.

There's a thread on here somewhere started by me - I got divorced many years ago. The ex continued to receive cb for our son and I forgot all about it.

Years later my income tipped over the 60k bracket and HMRC came after me for child benefit I had been incorrectly receiving. I explained that I haven't had any cb but my ex might - apparently the claim was in my name for whatever reason rather than hers so despite the fact they had evidence they had been paying her not me they pursued me for it.

I won in the end but took lots of letters and phone calls.

Anyway - as others have said too many and too complex benefits, at least role this into child tax credit. Or as horse suggests bin the lot and mess around with personal allowances, stop t he merry go round

Or better still shoot the poor

chewmylegoff

michaels wrote: »

It should be folded into tax credits, non means test benefits are an anachronism.

Agree. And all benefits should be means tested on the basis of gross household income rather than taxable income.

michaels

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Agree. And all benefits should be means tested on the basis of gross household income rather than taxable income.

I say old chap! Now you are going too far

Tromking

Important principle of the welfare state that everyone gets a bit back in the way of a universal benefit. The moment someone is asked to pay in and gets nothing back, the welfare state ends.

[Deleted User]

wotsthat wrote: »

I grovelled to max out the pension and then got two unexpected bonuses which meant I had to pay back the child benefit out of my £8k tax rebate :mad:

I wish I could afford to pay much into my pension! God knows where the money vanishes, lol. Bloody South East/Greater London living.

Tromking- we can afford our own kids, I don't want my own tax recycled and given back to me when the country can spend it in better ways elsewhere. I wish every state benefit was means tested (but not by making people fill in tax returns..)

remorseless

It should be axed as a 'amount' going to any family bank account.

As a tax payer I don't mind contributing but should not be single sided 'children-cash-cow'. A 'tax' should go towards building creches, schools, after schools so that parents can keep on working and support the child and the child can be educated. I have no desire to fund little Billy first toe dipping in Marbella. I'd like to dip my own toes in Marbella.

It is expensive to raise a child (no doubt) but I don't believe taxpayer should foot the bill for that lifestyle choice. In the past, when children would be paying my pension, maybe it made more sense, but now I have to prepay my pension + pay for other people children, is non sense.

PasturesNew

There should be a "0 child benefit" - paid to those of us who aren't overpopulating the planet

[Deleted User]

PasturesNew wrote: »

There should be a "0 child benefit" - paid to those of us who aren't overpopulating the planet

Stop perpetuating that myth - many industrialised/developed nations have a declining birth rate. Japan is the extreme example.

Ours is propped up by the young, fertile immigrants that have recently arrived on our shores.

CLAPTON

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Stop perpetuating that myth - many industrialised/developed nations have a declining birth rate. Japan is the extreme example.

Ours is propped up by the young, fertile immigrants that have recently arrived on our shores.

which myth is that?