Am I the only one that thinks that the budget is good?!

@ForthelovI agree. It seems like policies of envy similar to the VAT on education. We don’t own a residential property worth £2m either but the tax doesn’t sit well with me. We are band E but have a normal 4 bedroom family home. The 4th bedroom is a box room! The postcode is what attracted the value of the house rather than the size of the house itself.

@Flapjacker48 I never said he can’t afford to pay them but it makes it a lot of work for little gain when your margins aren’t huge to begin with. An increase to 350 wages as a family run business is a lot 🤯. It’s mainly the warehouse staff that are on minimum wage but every time the minimum wage goes up those in more skilled positions also begin demands for salary top up as the gap between skilled and unskilled workers narrows. That coupled with the general increase in costs and NI hikes last year makes it difficult for businesses, particularly in his industry which is an industry that affects most households. The business hasn’t been passed down to him from his dad either but when it does that scares me too as it will likely attract lots of tax and we simply don’t have the personal funds to pay it.

@EasternStandardExactly! I know my husbands family business has looked at investing in more technology to streamline but that means cutting jobs which again doesn’t help local people. He has also had to move some of the admin stuff abroad to an external company to try and cut costs and keep pricing competitive. His business turnover is a figure that makes my eyes water but his personal pay is less than that of a lot of people working in finance, senior healthcare etc etc. We have a mortgage and don’t live a particularly lavish lifestyle.

There is no evidence that removing the child benefit cap will lead to more children being born to anyone, low income families or otherwise. One study in Wales showed a small increase in birth rates, but not big enough to be statistically significant and attributable to benefits.

There's actually very little evidence to support the efficacy of any pro-natalist policies, though the cap wasn't lifted as part of a pro-natal agenda.

So much casually ignorant contempt for low income families on this thread. People need to get their heads out of the Daily Telegraph and GBeebies, do a bit of research before spouting off about their money paying for other people's reckless breeding, and try having a bit of empathy. It takes imagination, I know, but not everyone is out to take something from you.

If more businesses aren’t viable what happens to employment and jobs?

Oh do get lost with your “making bad choices” crap.

You do understand that anyone is one illness, one accident, one disability, one sexual assault etc etc away from their life turning 180’ and them living in poverty, relying on benefits etc, don’t you?

@Obeseandashamed If he can't afford to pay even the minimum wage to his staff without the business struggling then how viable is it? There has to long been a culture of the government effectively subsidising companies to pay low wages while the state is topping people up with benefits.

I am very uneasy about this tax too - and I don’t own a £2 million house. It just seems to be a big change to say “If you own something expensive you have to pay more tax”.
People are entitled to own things; they are already paying tax on income, they pay VAT etc and now they are paying tax for owning a possession. This feels like something new.
The idea that they can defer the payment until they sell the house or die is also a worrying new precedent because it means tax no longer needs to be in any way affordable.

Not true. My husband gets PIP and UC and he doesn’t have to do any work. He’s got Fibromyalgia. He gets around £2500 a month.

Ok. So you have benefited from an environment that rewarded hard work and allowed you to capitalise on your success. I want you to be able to fully enjoy the fruit of your labour. But if you want to pay more tax to balance it all out, fell free to volunteer your money directly to the local school your kids are not attending. Pay for an extra teacher or all the Kids' trips or their lunch.
I am not against tax. I am against tax that penalises hard work, planning and trying to ensure I am not a burden on society in 30 years time.

Isn’t only working families claiming UC who will benefit from the 2 child cap being lifted?
Non workers living solely on benefits are still subject to the toral benefit amount cap, yes?

My other concern is the constant raising of minimum wage. My husband employs over 350 people. Each year the costs escalate significantly and given the industry he’s in, it’s only a 1-3% profit margin to begin with!

Ok. Let's leave the kids out of it. Something like taxing your pension IN as well as OUT, Taxing your house, taxing your car, taxing your savings. On top of already having taxed you for this...All of these measures punish people for taking responsibility for themselves and their finances both in short and long term. Businesses have been crippled by the extra NI. They no longer hire. If you're lucky you get a one out/ one in. Most often is just one out. People in the private sector are NOT getting pay rises in line with inflation. And very few have final salary pensions. Ultimately, people like me are essentially getting a pay cut. You keep shaking the money tree at some point there will not be anything else falling out of it. The private sector is getting screwed a bit too much. So yeah. I am fully entitled to not be elated by being subjected to tax raids. You wanna tax something? Tax the plethora of Chinese tat that people but on temu or some such. Tax Amazon for any employee on a time limited contractual agreement. Tax crap food more. Tax British gas. Tax water companies that discharge waste in waterways. There are other ways!!!

My worry is that with this mansion tax, they have started at £2m but before we know it that will have dropped and house prices will have risen so a lot more people will get caught in it.

The worst off don't need altruistic words or sanctimonious attitudes, they need the money that comes from people who pay a lot of tax.

I support the lifting of the two-child UC cap, and paying more tax so other families don't have to work to feed or clothe their children. I don't mind paying £500 a month to travel to work, and getting up in the dark and cold in winter, and working 10 hours a day, to generate that tax. I don't mind paying even more tax so the state can cover the costs feeding, clothing and childcare. I don't mind seeing my graduate children, struggling to find jobs, paying for welfare bill through a freeze on the student loan repayment threshold, announced in the Budget. We will have more time together as a family as they won't be able to afford to leave home, as a third of any graduate salary will be paying taxes and student loan debt. I won't mind when the government has to raise taxes yet again next year, as the welfare bill will rise as busienss layoff staff or reduce hiring to cover the increased business rates and wage costs. I'm afraid though my patience with being a tax machine will wear off at some point, likely sooner than I expected.

It's not me, I just replied, it's @LemaxObsessive , thanks It is difficult to tell who is the original poster on threads sometimes.

It’s about time we invested building more state retirement homes (and nurseries). A lot of the profit is currently siphoned off to offshore companies.
https://www.chpi.org.uk/blog/the-hidden-profits-behind-collapsing-care-homes

Redriver, in case she's not aware, your nan may be entitled to council tax support if on a low income and modest savings. You can do a quick check on an online benefit calculator like the Age UK one

I think it's the old state pension as she is 81 which is the one my dad had and there were lots of extras on it, SERPs and stuff like that, there was a list of about 5 different additions iirc when he died so it was quite high but the tax on this isn't making much sense even allowing for this.

Who is going to vote for Labour next time? I would say those who gain most from their policies are the least likely to vote at all

This makes no sense as basic state pension plus say £7 a week is currently below the tax threshold.

Very naive thread.
You are better off if you are on UC and have multiple children.

Otherwise, you are generally worse off. Whilst it maybe affordable on an individual level for some, it generally means people will have less disposable income, which generally means less spending in the economy and therefore, businesses/economy will struggle, employment will fall and tax coming back to the state through these sources will fall.

@ProcrastinatorsAnonymous

This budget is doing nothing for those you mention, the teachers, NHS staff, firefighters etc - just taxing them more.

I wonder if it’s because of interest income? If the OPs mother is living on the state pension, a small private pension and a reasonable chunk of interest income then maybe there’s a point at which the annual allowance for lower rate taxpayers tapers such that the 2% surcharge (or 10% increase) on interest income announced in the budget more than doubles the tax paid for this person? It seems unlikely, but I can’t be bothered to work it out.

What I will say is that a budget that for many people taxes savings and pensions more, reduces the education budget and SEN provision, increases welfare costs and does nothing for health, housing, employment or investment is not going to deliver the growth that will make the country or anyone better off. It vindicates my decision, not taken lightly, to leave the UK.

Does she have a mortgage?

Why is she taxed when state pension is £11973 and her private pension income is £27 making a total of £12K? Personal allowance is £12570 at the moment.

I’m not on much more than that (working) but don’t have a mortgage or rent and drive and old car. It’s tight but I’m certainly not living in poverty and even manage to save a bit each month. Plus no fuel allowance, free prescriptions or bus pass.