Did you know that in most western countries, couples and families are given the option to be taxed on their COMBINED income, instead of being taxed individually? The reason for this is because it is MUCH FAIRER!
In the UK, taxes are relatively low for individuals, but they do not take into account how many people depend on that income. So a single man/woman with no dependants who spends all their money on themselves pays the same exact amount of taxes than a dad/mom with several children and a partner/spouse who stays at home because childcare is too expensive (or because it is best for young children, as research has demonstrated, or even if it's not their choice to stay at home but they can't find a job!)
Yes, there is (a pretty small) child benefit but this is capped/eliminated depending on the income level, and with only one parent earning money, the family will loose most of the benefit at relatively low income levels.
How is that fair!? This country needs to support families just like the rest of the western countries and not punish single earner families with a parent at home or working part time by placing the highest tax burden on them. Ultimately this affects the children, who are the future!
The child benefit charge is also very unfair, as many people have observed, because single earner families will start loosing their benefit at much lower household income (£50k) than double-earner families (they could earn up to £100k and have full benefits!)
Please sign the following petition to ask our government to modify the tax system to allow families to be taxed on their combined household income, just as most other countries have been doing for decades:
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/216429
Also, please share it with as many people as you can! The government will only respond if we reach 10,000 signatures!
More info:
www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/8365211/Britain-worst-place-for-tax-burden-on-single-earner-families.html
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/11/single-income-families-inequality-workers-fathers-earnings