Link tax codes for couples -- epetition

[theblancos]

I hope you would like to sign this epetition to the goverment. epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/63221

Couples who co-habit are assessed as a couple where benefits are concerned but are treated as an individual with regards to income tax. This is unfair and penalises those who make the efforts and sacrifices to stay together as a family.

Many couples who only have one partner working for whatever reason are financially penalised by the refusal of benefits due to the level of income from one person even though other families are still able to receive benefits when their joint income far exceeds that of the lone worker.

The individual tax allowance allocated to stay at home, unemployed or low earning partners is not used as they do not have sufficient income to put against it.

This petition is to ask that Married and Civil Parnership Couples should be entitled to claim any unused tax allowance from one partner to the other. This would create a fairer system of taxation that recognises the bond within a family in the same manner that the benefit system already uses.

I don't understand the logic of making commuting expenses tax deductible as everybody has to find a way to get to work, whether they have children or not, and there is an element of choice involved.

I know that in practice it may not seem as though there is a lot of choice, but I can't see how you would make a tax deduction for commuting fair on people who pay more to live closer to their work or people who earn less money because they choose to work closer to home or people who don't have children.

Maybe I have missed something, but I think that in practice you might as well just reduce income tax.

People have complained, correctly, that if you don't work you have less costs ie child care / commuting costs. So in a join tax codes it might be relevant if one of the partners works or not and take on consideration those expenses.

Oh dear god, how complicated are you trying to make it?

Also, as someone has pointed out upthread, stuff has to be paid for. If you believe in a welfare state (which I do) tax has to be paid.

And the simple fact is that your 'family unit' is going to equate to men earning more and paying less tax, while women have even more barriers to working.

Theblancos - can you please answer my point re a financially abusive partner??

Also, please define "single parent". I am one, I think, yet my kids spend 5 nights with their dad and 9 with me per fortnight. Under your scheme would my tax allowance be reduced then? And his pro rata to that?

And before you ask, no I don't get maintenance.

Yet another stick for him to beat me with and threaten me with going for more contact to reduce my real earning power.

[confused}

Oh, the OP's already dismissed the problem of the idea enabling financial abuse. Apparently they'd just be abusive anyway so it's fine to design a system that enables and even encourages them.

I would sign it as long as the transfer is a choice.
It would benefit sahm and those on ml or working part time under £10k a yr. or with one partner unemployed
If it was based on basic tax only it would save a couple £2k a yr in tax hardly a fortune. Not an amount worse going to work doing childcare for.
Yes it might put some women off working - but if theyre only working for 2k.
I was only going to make a profit of 3k for working 21 hrs a week not worth leaving a 1yo in nursery 30hrs a week.

But for most people they would need more than the 2k this would benefit them.
I dont understand barriers to getting back to work, if youre bright things dont change that much (or at least they constantly change even when you are at work.

You don't understand barriers to getting back to work??!!

Try childcare so expensive it would take up almost all your wages. Try a long commute that would mean you can't even get a childminder or nursery that will keep your child.

Try no family help at all if one of the kids voms and you can't take them to the nursery or childminder.

Try shift work.

Try any number of things that make going out to work with a young family as a single parent very very difficult indeed.

Thats not what i meant i meant barrier to getting back to work in the sense employers not taking you.
Them using a period of sahp against people applying or even unemployment.
Clearly the barriers are there on the parents side. But that would make it more useful to transfer some tax free allowance if you can as its not worth working in terms of money, effort, exhaustion if you dont earn a lot and dont qualify for the help with paying childcare. There would be more point to it if i earnt less and got 70% back , in the short term.

Women fought long and hard to get treated as individuals for tax.

THe fact that child benefite has been bollocked up by the government is NOT a reason to unwind the hard work of generations of women over the last 100 years

And how are we going to fund all these families suddenly paying less tax?

Yes, a lot of people would be better off. I'd be better off if they dropped the tax rate to 3 percent and bumped the personal allowance up to 50k but they sure as shit aren't going to do it.

Agree with PPs that joint taxation only worked in a society where a wife's income was seen as the property of her husband. Everyone being taxed individually on their own income and assets is the only fair and equal way to manage it.

If the way CB is calculated is the problem it should be scrapped and Child Tax Credits increased instead. The Labour Party's plans for it this week seemed to make that more likely.