To think paying tax on jobseekers allowance is just crap

[20thcenturygirlwithherhandsonthewheel]

I was made redundant a few months ago. I have worked just under 30 years and never claimed any benefits before. DH and I have always saved to make sure that we have money aside just in case of emergencies (especially as housing benefits don’t pay the mortgage), so we have over £16k in savings and can’t claim anything means tested.

fair enough.

the only benefit I could claim when unemployed was contribution based jobseekers allowance: a massive £93 a week that I could only claim for 6 months.

thankfully I was only unemployed for 8 weeks. But to my surprise I’ve just recieved a letter from HMRC telling me that the paltry £93 a week was taxable. So really; probably will end up about £70 a week.

really pissed off: being putting money in the kitty for 30 years but getting so little when we needed it

I did not get taxed on my contributions based job seekers allowance, because I was made redundant in April, so it was at the beginning of the new tax year.
At the time it was £73 per week
That is after decades of working
The money helped me to go to job interviews & secure a new job

You’ve lost the room by claiming JSA when you had savings.

Within the tax year you must have used your tax free allowance, so any income is taxed. You won’t get any sympathy here.

Is it because you have gone over the amount you are allowed to earn before paying tax?
I actually agree with you op.
You are unemployed therefore you have just as much right to claim unemployment benefit as anyone else.
I would rather this money go to someone like the op than those who have never done a days work in their life and receive benefits for years and years without ever contributing to the pot.

If you'd spent every penny you earn you would have contributed to the economy and paid VAT on purchases further increasing the "pot" but you didn't... you saved it, which is great but doesn't mean you should get a handout.

Of course you did. Your JSA payments counted against your tax allowance just like everyone else.

Middle class person suddenly finds out that the benefit system is not free money lifestyle the Daily Mail told her about

Why shouldn’t I claim JSA? The whole point of NI was originally supposed to be a safety net for people who work, if they were unable to work. I’ve paid NI for 30 years now. Of course I’m bloody claiming it

Yes, it is very easy and actually the way the system works is that you have to prove how much anxious you are and even if you could eventually get better, there is no point as you will lose your PIP.

My ex-DIL did exactly this when she had start looking for a job when our grandson was old enough.

There are plenty of people who do just fine never doing a days work. Plenty of then roam about town, smoking, drinking, spitting, shouting and swearing to each other. They put decent people off coming into town and spending money.
Yes not all people are like this but stop insisting that every single person claiming benefits is decent and really, really trying to get a job or using their time in a positive manner.

what has this got to do with the daily mail? I’m not middle class. I’m from a council estate. But I’ve got a good work ethic and worked hard to buy a house and have savings.

It appears that we live in the same town then. But I promise: I don’t roam about town shouting. When I was unemployed I spent every day looking for work

But paying tax on your JSA is because your annual income went over the tax threshold of £12570.

Imo ALL income including all benefits should be taxed IF the persons annual income exceeds the threshold

I think you are doing all the right things OP, you saved and paid your dues. You are entitled to benefits the same as everyone else - but O agree having worked like you over 30 years and paid into the system that you get so little in return.

You have also proved that if people want to work they will find a job.

”just fine” what a boring life though / I’d rather work and have money to do nice things like travel and it have to think about spending money on things I want when I want them.

to be able to just take my daughter a theme park on a whim,

get concert tickets when they go on sale

go to music festivals

having enough money to get by in benefits is not a life I want

The best bit is that the OP thinks that she should have a higher tax free allowance than every other taxpayer so that she can give her offspring a house deposit!

I'm sure there will be a queue of eager contributors, also paying tax and NI and just getting by who would be really happy to feel that they are funding that.

Also she seems to have a husband, who she says is also earning. Perhaps he could have shouldered the grocery bill for a few weeks?

fupoffy and that’s the mind set decent hardworking people have. Unfortunately there are many people who do not have the same mindset. They are often the ones having lots of children. And so the cycle continues.
Strange how I come across many parents who either do not work or work very few hours so that they can claim benefits. They also don’t live with ( or claim not to live with) any of the fathers to these children.
The married parents seem to have to wait much longer to be able to afford to have a child ( and often only 1 child.) Strange that.
This is my every day experience, not some media hype. The council and voluntary organisations try very hard to make the town pleasant and do their best to attract visitors. However, the skanks roaming around are reason to put people off coming sadly.

I’m not wanting a higher tax free allowance. If it was income based JSA I wouldn’t be paying any tax on it. What I do want is to recieve a decent amount of jobseekers allowance seeing as I’ve been paying NI and tax for 30 years. I am one of the tax payers.

And who do you think would give those people a job? If you can’t bear to be near them they’re unlikely to be employable.

Well, exactly. We only have one child: and wouldn’t have more than 2 because we wouldn’t be able to provide for them. Meanwhile I know someone with 5 kids, all have various ailments and her and her husband haven’t worked for at least 30 years

Thanks. I really worked hard to get a job: applied over 100 roles. Have a FTC for one year. Doesn’t pay as much as my last role, but it pays a lot better than JSA

Maybe they could volunteer to do something. Maybe, just maybe they could do litter picking like lots of local people do. Instead of throwing their crap everywhere expecting someone else to bend down and pick it up and put it in a bin which is all of 2 metres away from where they have thrown it.
Maybe if their life is so bad, they could go and get free contraception or even get sterilised and stop bringing children into the world if their life is as bad as you want to make out.
Or maybe their life is just fine and dandy not working. Maybe they quite like having time to do exactly as they please rather than help other people.
Maybe they are quite content to sit in the sunshine smoking, drinking, taking drugs, watching the world pass by then going back to their homes which are paid for by the smucks who actually work for a living.

Maybe they could seek help like the vast majority of decent people have to do.
Then again why bother when they get everything for free.

There you go OP some reading for you - https://www.gov.uk/income-tax/taxfree-and-taxable-state-benefits

But you really do want a higher tax free allowance, you don't want your benefits to be classed as income.

You seem obsessed with other people having more than you. People in some other benefit that you don't qualify for, people who don't work, people with more children than you. You might be happier if you just accepted that the system is what it is.

I suspect that in order for the tax payer to have been giving you what you think you deserve we would all have to be paying much higher taxes.

I suspect you’re absolutely right and that would involve a subsidy from people for whom £16k in the bank would be like winning the lottery.

I assume you claimed contributions related benefits - you get those regardless of your savings and your partners' income for six months as long as you have paid enough NI in the last two years. You also have to do very little in the way of job seeking activity to be honest - the one time I was on contributions related JSA I went to the job centre every two weeks and had a nice 10 min chat with the work coach where he imparted such invaluable insights as "make sure you turn up to job interviews on time" and "check the location of the interview before you leave".

Once you tip in to income related benefits it is a whole different kettle of fish and I doubt you would really prefer it to using your savings to support yourself.

However you could always give it a go if you think it is an easier and nicer life.