In thinking the Govt have not thought through the changes to council tax benefit?

[JakeBullet]

As of next April most of the poorest members of society will be asked to make a contribution to their council tax. There are real issues with this as for most families although the amounts will be smallish, perhaps amounting to less than £7 a week it comes at a time when they are already being squeezed financially.

The feeling amongst councils is that many will refuse to pay, especially if it is a stark choice between paying this amount or buying food. As the amounts are so small it will be uneconomic to go down a route of trying to enforce it.

I am a single parent and currently rely on benefits (my son is autistic), however because my family consists of just myself and DS it is likely that a small amount going back towards council tax will not pose a problem. The same might not be true for other families who for whatever reason find themselves on benefits.
I don't think the Govt have thought this one through and in reality what this will mean is that councils which supply vital services will face massive shortfalls.

I don't think the Govt have thought this one through.

YABU to expect this government to think through anything to be honest

Sockreturningpixie - I don't disagree with you that it's going to be tough. I am horrified by the changes. But if a central document states that under the new system a carer is afforded a bedroom, then that is the regulation the local authorities must follow. Similarly, it is clear that the disabled child provisions will be 'discretionary' and so I expect that they will possibly be dealt with through the DHF system, which will be a perfectly legitimate use of the fund.

There is no doubt about it this government has little idea about how a family is supposed to manage on not a lot of money. No wonder the Tories have plummeted in the polls over the last week. It really is not on to be told to tighten your belts by a millionaire who thinks he should travel first class on a second class ticket. Very bad indeed for them. I am in favour of looking at where savings can be made. Even a small increase in cost of living can be a huge huge burden on people who are already struggling.

I haven't failed to grasp anything. I realise times are tough, it's that way for the majority of us.

I'd prefer for certain council services to be cut, like libraries, but that is an unpopular view so the money to fund things like this has to come from somewhere.

I think making changes etc is all very well BUT when it affects people in the massive way it will then I feel it is not thought out properly....or rather it HAS been thought out but they still don't give a toss.

What's the alternative though?

People don't want cuts and people don't want tax rises, so what's the answer?

I agree Outraged, it's a double edged sword....people are moaning but don't want to take a tax hike either.

I am not currently in work as I am a Carer but when I was working I would gladly have paid a penny or two more in tax to ensure those most struggling got the support they needed. As a Carer I am even more aware of the importance of a safety net and back up.

Invest in order to restart the economy and increase employment.

And then reduce the deficit and restructure the welfare budget.

Someone on a thread recently suggested building social housing. Thats a good idea. Creates employment and deals with the housing shortage. Plus the rent goes back to the government and rent prices will come down from the crazy heights they are at now.

lougle they may have to but we all know that they dont unless forced to.im very happy to walk into my la's hb office and get a copy of the guidelines they are using to advise customers and upload a photo, but im pretty sure they will turn up in private eye soon due to a hb officer i know from the next county with the same guidelines forwarding them. they are also on several la's web pages.

the advice they are currently giving is everybody in sh who recives hb and ctb is going to be effected unless they are over pension age or have a actual formal resident none family member employed carer.

a fair few of the changes or rules are compleatly up to the la how they deal with, and apsolutly do not take into account the huge issues with the DHF system and how they allocate funds or budget for future applications or lack of disregarded income, they are also intended to not be used long term.

also for a carer to be taken into account they have to be formally resident so unless you have one(or a few) full time it wont count. a none resident carer or need for one even over night is not taken into account.

I work part time, looking for full time. I am lone parent and get about 60 % of my CT paid.
My LA is potentially going to drop single person discount, and raise the amount I have to pay by 30%.
Currently I can just make ends meet. I never buy clothes for myself, ds has one good pair of shoes and a good coat. I havent had a new coat in 5 years.
There is no money for extras, no money for xmas, just food and bills, and bus fares.
There are no extras. I pay 15 a month for phone and broadband, and you cant get it cheaper. I need broadband for work.
I hope to fuck I have a better job by April. I am really really worried.

This government is so incredibly out of touch with what most peoples lives are like.

or close the loop holes that enable people to reduce massive amounts of tax.

"People don't want cuts and people don't want tax rises, so what's the answer?"

Er. Get companies who pay no tax to, er, pay some tax??
And stop punishing the poor for something they didn't actually cause.

IfNotNow

I was reading about the single person discount on Friday - I don't know of a Local Authority yet who have said that will will touch it.

It would affect many more women than men, most of them older women. It would be political suicide for the Tories.

The government does need to sort out the problems with tax evasion, but there is only so much that can be done to make companies pay tax without making them decide its not worth them operating in this country. We need to encourage business, especially small businesses, not make it impossible for them to profit because of their tax obligations. Businesses at least provide a market for VAT and employment taxes.

I agree that companies need to pay tax, but taxing companies and taxing individuals is not something that's mutually exclusive.

God LineRunner, I hope that's true.
I am so confused by the whole thing.

The other thing I don't get is that there is a minimum amount that a person is supposed to get to live on by law, then how can people on that base amount be asked to pay something that would leave them with less than the law says they need to live on?
Or are they changing the law?

I do not get why people are so shocked by all the cuts.
The public voted in the conservative party (NUTS) and its all about the rich getting richer no shock there!!

Small businesses are being strangled by large companies who are evading tax. The competition is just too great.

Didn't council tax increase so much under Labour because about 25% of the council tax bill goes towards council employee pensions? Surely the easiest way to minimise the pain is just to make council employees pay more towards their own pensions and cut the ct bill for everyone else. It's ridiculous that we are paying towards other peoples pensions when we can't afford a pension of our own.

I disagree Outraged. If Starbucks, ebay etc don't want play at tax avoidance then the government should change the law and tax them on profits made in the UK. I doubt that they would close down all their coffee shops of close ebay.co.uk as they make too much money from the UK population. They would lose more money closing down their companies than by paying the correct amount of corporation tax on profits made in the UK (the highest rate of corporation tax is something like 24%, so hardly going to make a dent in their profit margins). They are just greedy.

I dont thinks its the worst idea. Those not at work are more likely to use far more services than others so why shouldnt they contribute? It may also mean that those who see benefits as a lifestyle choice may start to think otherwise when they realise it means less money.

It would be far more simplistic to raise personal tax allowances and cut out all top up benefits. Less admin, hardly any fraud and would mean no keeping hours low to reap tax credits etc.

The thing is, ophelia275, the companies do pay tax on the profit they make in the UK.

They just don't make any profit in the UK so they don't have to pay any tax.

To cut out top-up benefits you need to raise the minimum wage.

I think it is crazy that the minimum wage is not enough to live on so we all have to pay for top-up benefits. In the majority of cases, business would make less profits (not shut completely) if they were forced to pay a living wage.

And if we also brought back rent control to stop profiteering landlords living off the benefit system we could really make a difference.

HappyMummyof One tax credits are a business subsidy so that employers can get away with paying low wages.
How the hell are people on part time hours in places like supermarkets suppossed to get extra hours when those extra hours are being filled by people on workfare.
Even if by some miracle you got the extra hours one week you may not get them the next or you could only get the extra hours very intermittently.
That means you have to keep ringing up HMRC every 5 mins with the changes. Their system just cant keep up.
Also a lot of part time jobs say that they need some one for 18 hrs a week but MUST keep themselves AVAILABLE for the rest of the time JUST IN CASE.
Happy you just havent thought it through.

And if you have to keep yourself available just in case how the fuck are you suppossed to get a second part time job.

What cremteas said.
And please please please can we get off this "those who see benefits as a lifestyle choice" BULLSHIT.
I have not applied for a single job this year that has had fewer than 40 applicants. For one job.
The percentage of Jezza kyle, multiple baby having, drug dealer boyfriend keeping, flat screen telly owning, milking the system the system council palace queens (as seen in the Daily Fail) is fucking tiny.
The people these policies are really hurting are hard working families who are TRYING TO SURVIVE.