So child benefit to go for higher rate taxpayers

[foxinsocks]

So says George osbourne on breakfast telly. Missed the details but sounds like it comes in from 2013!

"He confirmed the cut would hit homes with a single or two high earners. But families with two parents on modest incomes - which might add up to over £44,000 - will keep the benefit."

BBC

the £44000 is the 6475 tax free allowance plus the £37400 basic rate band - ie higher rate tax starts when someone earns just short of £44K.

I hope if he is cutting this he cuts the winter fuel allowance for rich pensioners.

Just heard on R4 - if one person is a HR taxpayer they need to tick a box on the tax return to say so, and it will be claimed back via PAYE, or tax payments. But he wants us to do the decent thing and stop claiming. Thanks then. So, dh earns a 'fortune' by some standards, but we also have credit card and mortgage debt, childcare costs etc. If dh and I both earned the same amount together (say two wages of £30,000) we would keep it? Real incentive to work hard and achieve something with your life then isn't it? Will never vote conservative ever.

It's always been the way that if you earn just over the threshold it doesn't make much difference to your income. So as ever, the medium incomed will be disproportionately hit :(

Pathetic. And totally unworkable if to be based on household income and some sort of 'notional' higher rate tax payment based on joint salary - notional as in a couple don't actually pay higher rate tax but would if salary were paid to one person iyswim. And totally unfair if it's not based on household income...

It preys on the idea that anyone who pays higher rate tax is 'loaded'. My sister will lose about 1900 a year (and remember this is a NET payment). Her DH works and just about tips in to the higher tax bracket so he may as well go in to his boss today and reduce his hours to - what would it be, 4 days a week? Add to that what he would save by not travelling one day a week and voila - it pays not to work yet again.

Don't recall this being in the manifesto pre-election.... write to your MP now

Am absolutely at this. I earn quite a bit less than HRT threshold and DH is currently over HRT threshold - by about £100 per year! So basically because of that we will lose £1742 per year which is what we currently get in CB. How can that possibly be fair in any way. That amount covers the cost of DDs before and after school care. We will have to seriously consider DH going to something like 98% of full time to avoid this which will have knock on consequences for pensions etc but there is no way we can afford to lose that much. Surely this is a prime target for a MN Campaign??

Can feel the steam coming out of my ears! No point in me working if we lose benefit. By the time I've paid out for petrol etc to get to work, will be better off staying at home. Grrrr!

Feel like handing my notice in now or just saying to my boss 'don't worry about paying me - I'm here because I love it!'. I'd end up better off!!

Ridiculous!

'Riven, the tax band limit rises every year with inflation anyway, so he is just assuming that's what it'll be by 2013.' No it doesn't; it's been frozen for the last three years. That's why more people paid 40% under Labour, because they altered neither the tax free allowance nor the threshold.

There'll be more ITRs to be completed then as they stopped sending HR taxpayers on PAYE with simple tax affairs a return about 4 years ago.

According to itv you could both earn 43k and keep it

Between losing Child Benefit and Tax Credits from next year we are going to lose jsut over £300 a month.

This is a substantial amount of money, luckily DP is not in the public sector and may actually get a wage increase next year (that's if he keeps his job).

Oh and remember the VAT increase is coming as well.

What the bastard should have done is crack down on tax avoidance.

I don't understand, on HM revenues website (and on BBC news) it says £37,400 but it's really £44,000??

I think we need someone who earns say £40,000 to come and tell us their tax band!?!

Either way they are fuckers.

MegBusset, we are the same. We live in London and we have big outgoings and this is going to make a massive difference to us. When I return to work next year it's going to cost me with childcare costs until we qualify for 15 hours childcare... which I am hoping remains unchanged.

Does anyone here think it's a good idea??

How about a mn webchat with GO next , lol . He'll get lynched !!!

Well it certainly show's how this coalition government value children.

Winter fuel payments, free TV licences and free travel for elderly people is not means tested (in fact some MPs and Lords will qualify) yet a family earning in the early £40,000s get child benefit taken away - shame.

Also, very much based on the understanding that families share income equally and anyone who reads through some of the threads on here will know that this is not the case.

The £37000 ish is taxable income. You get £6,475 personal allowance so you need to earn a bit over £44,000 to pay hr tax. Will come back to this but need to take children to school :)

"Currently you need to earn £43,875 to be paying higher rate tax. The tax allowance of £6,475 has stayed the same for the past two years. But I do remember before the election that there were thoughts about it going up to £10,000 weren't there?"

There were discussions about if you earnt less than X then your tax allowance would go up to Y.

You get your tax allowance free of tax.

Then you pay 20% tax on earned income up to £37,400
40% on £37,401 to £150,000
50% on £150,001+

Hope that helps. The £44,000 figure is the basic rate upper limit plus the tax free allowance.

I may well, if we are still here switch to claiming Belgian child benefit, from 2013.

There's a thought - can they do this under European law?

That HRP change was by stealth though, wasn't aware of that . Although I don't understand why the age criteria doesn't tie in with the Income Support/JSA changes for Lone Parents. Surely all women should be encouraged back to work equally

This sounds like an excellent idea in principle - though I am concerned about the obvious unfairness that a double-income household on £80k could still get CB and a single-income household on £50k might not.

I am guessing the cost of means-testing, rectifying and dealing with errors, etc, makes it impossible to do the calculation using total household income.

It's also shows how politically courageous the Chancellor is being - truly putting country above party. He is hitting traditionally Tory voters in order to help the poorest and most deprived via Iain Duncan Smith's welfare reforms.