If the Tories come into power, tax credits could be axed :-O

[GlastonburyGoddess]

In the news today. Im appalled. Talking about how tax credits create a demotivation to earn more etc etc

Im disgusted, no mention of if it would be replaced with something else.

we both work, we get our wages at the end of the month and within 3 days its gone on bils, we then live day to day off the tax credits. we'd be f**d hope they dont end up in power....

[thesouthsbelle]

bloody hell, if I didn't get the tax credits, there's no way on earth i'd be able to work, then again i'd never be able to support DS and I on benefits again either as 1/2 of my weekly income on that was from tax credits. (my wages are the same as my rent & council tax)

[TwoIfBySea]

And you are suprised?

As soon as that happens every last person who works on a normal wage will drop to well below the poverty line and will have much less than those on benefits get.

[atlantis]

Which news was this on? / in? May I enquire as as far as I am aware the conservatives have no intention of touching tax credits for people who earn under 50.000 per year.

Is this the same old trick that labour pulled at the last election I wonder when they claimed exactly the same thing and the red rag daily mirror endlessly ran the story?

[pippel]

this is my biggest fear. My childcare costs are more than I earn (single mother with 2 dds and work 30 hours). If this happened I would have no choice but to give up my job and go on to benifits .

[ssd]

.

[noodlesoup]

Anything could happen whoever comes to power but is it an actual policy? All they have said is they will make it simpler and cut down on admin. Where did you read it?

[heronsfly]

We are another family that pays out all wages in bills.and lives on tax credits I would also have to give up work if this happened.

[Dizzyclarebear]

oh, you've prompted me to do a bit of a search - they have only said they'll cut the top end - and I didn't realise you could earn up to £50k and still get it, I thought people who earn £50k are 'wealthy' but then maybe that's because I don't...

And they've said they will look at all benefits in the long term, so I guess it'll be considered with all the rest. So I suppose then technically, if Tories get in they might scrap them, but don't think Theresa May was rolling out a definate policy, past the top end reduction (although how low they go will be an issue)

[kathyis6incheshigh]

I would be surprised if they would do anything which would end up with working families on less than people on benefits. More likely they would slash benefits first of all.
I imagine they would also slash lots of services used by people on not much money. I was looking at the leaflet for holiday play schemes etc in our area the other day and thinking 'hmm, bet all this stuff isn't still going to be happening in 3 years or so....'

[TheDMshouldbeRivened]

I wouldn't trust the Tories far as we could spit them. If we didn't have CTC we wouldn't be able to eat/pay mortgage cos dh can only work part time as he cares full time for dd, saving the taxpayer 100,000 every bloody year in residential home fees.
Like rich Tories care

[littleducks]

Theresa May is my local mp and i dont think that what she has been saying round here

I do think that tax credits do give a demotivation to earn more though, and they certainly need to sort out the paperwork and the computer systems based on the threads on here, so a rethink may not be a bad thing

[IUsedToBePeachy]

DH is on a very low wage, i'm looking for work but as a carer it will be 10 -20 hrs per week IF I find anything- TC's feed us, allow us not to claim HB (and therefore not be evicted) etc

Thanks then Tories- hope you've got a few council houses spare, becuase there are no private landlords here accepting HB claimants

We're obv nor earning 50k (more like £7.5K between us atm incluidng Carers Allowance X2) so will just pray they leave our end of the spectrum alone

[Dizzyclarebear]

It does depend on what it's replaced with - I mean, TC's are really inefficient - it takes a lot of admin (and cost) to collect the money then give it you back.

My DH worked in Luxembourg for a couple of years, they have a system that if you have kids you pay less tax. There was one bloke he worked with who had 4 DCs, and therefore paid virtually no tax meaning that his take home pay was the same as his child-free boss! that cost the gov v little to process as the company's HR/payroll did most of the calculations/admin for it rather than civil service. (of course this was about 8 years ago so it might have all gone hidiously wrong for Luxembourg now - and I can see it would be hard for small companies to get their heads round)

[IUsedToBePeachy]

there are two issues with that though:

1. originally (spot the older Mother ) TC's were handled by the companies paying people, the complaints led to them being taken into Government repsonsibility

2) TC's also are used to deliver certain benefits- we get some of our disability payments through them for example, and IS for children stopped and was taken over by WTC. That would mean the infrastructure ahd to remain regardless. We in actuality get far more in TCs than we pay in tax and that is because of the carer ' very low income /disabled status

It may well have worked a decade ago absolutely, but the whole minimal infrastructure ahs been used to deliver in one system

[Meglet]

If I didn't have tax credits I wouldn't be eating or paying the bills. Tax credits are a lifesaver for someone like me who needs and wants to work p/t and has a mortgage to pay.

[Prinnie]

I think tax credits should be axed, they are an inefficient use of resource - the govt takes from you with one hand, spends some of this money on admin and then gives less money back with another.

But before I get shot down only income over 10k would be taxed - unlike the 5-6k it is currently.

I wish people would see bigger pictures and alternative options sometimes!

[IUsedToBePeachy]

So prinnie- what about the benefits delivered through the IS system?

We get DLA related payments throgh it, others get WTC in place of IS

(as we are a working family we dont get IS obviously)

To me, THAT is the bigger picture. Just because other people dont need to know about the full range of benefits delivered through the system doesn't mean they don't exist- the ones are those for people with disabilities, so those most people think are a good use of tax payers cash.

We don't pay tax in any real amount, so a refund of that wuld leave us with 4 children on £7.5k annual income including carers allowance and DH's wages. how would that work, then?

[Dizzyclarebear]

Ah, IUsedToBePeachy - that makes sense. I withdraw my suggestion that other countries might do it better (although I do maintain the view taking less off people who don't earn much in the first place would be a good idea, I don't understand the logic of taking away the 10p tax band - perhaps someone else can come along and explain to me why scrapping it was a good thing for Gordon to do)

[PuppyLoves]

Agree with Prinnie. The whole tax credit system is wrong. Needs a big overhaul

[IUsedToBePeachy]

I don't understand that eitehr dizzy. Was a terrible shame

[lou031205]

We get more in tax credits than DH earns. No amount of tax breaks would make up for that They are half our total income.

[TheDMshouldbeRivened]

same here Lou. Giving tax back would leave us broke.

[Bigmouthstrikesagain]

I agree with redistributive taxation/ benefits systems and seeing as the gap between rich and poor has widened even with labour in power the simple intro of lower taxes for lower incomes will not be the answer.

I know many families whose income is dependent on FTC and WTC. This is helping keep families off the breadline in the recession. I don't necessarily disagree with lowering the income bracket covered we get a tiny amount and if was lost it won't kill us. But I do think that the current FTC system is probably under threat whatever party comes in the next election as public funds are so low.

Simplification and cutting down on admin would be a nice idea but in practice managing a huge and complicated system of checks and balances is a big job. Though stopping the govt investing in shiny new IT systems all the time might save cash!