middle earners and cuts

[hogshead]

i'm getting myself all in a stew about cuts affecting `middle earners' but what counts as a middle earner these days????

it's the majority of the population

hum. let me put myself clearly

when we earned 40k, the govt topped that up to 42 k.

did we need that additional 2k? i mean really?

now we earn 10k, and the govt tops it to 16k

so evidently the government did not think we needed 42 k. It thought we need 16k. so why was it giving us that extra 2k??

answers on a postcard to....

EnglandAllenPoe - conspiracy theorists would say that it was all a left wing plot to increase the 'middle classes' dependency on welfare.

I've don't hold that opinion myself - yet!

Will be getting out my calculator on budget day I think! We earn what should be a decent income imo but, in order, childcare, commuting costs and then mortgage take most of it. My fear is that if they are not careful, repeated govt cuts and tax increases will hit the same group of people over and over. Given what our two highest outgoings are, it wouldn't take much of a tax hike or a change to childcare expenditure to make my working financially non-viable or the dcs Ebayable.

I do think that labour realised it could only appeal to lower middle earning familes for so long. Tax credits for those families were an attempt to make them feel dependent on the state and therefore the labour goverment.

Is it everyone who gets the first 10k free of tax? That would benefit me working for the NHs but DH works in the financial sector and doesn't get any tax allowance at present - I wonder if the money I will get through not being taxed on the first 10k will be wiped out by the higher tax he will pay?

"DH works in the financial sector and doesn't get any tax allowance at present"

Everyone with a salary under £100k qualifies for a personal tax-free allowance of £6475 (2010/11) However if his income is sub £100k and also includes any extras like company cars or private medical insurance then his allowance is reduced/wiped out completely and his tax code with it.

"Is it everyone who gets the first 10k free of tax?"

Wouldn't it be nice if it was? However, don't be surprised if there are strings attached and people over a certain income level find they don't qualify.

Well tax credits are going to be abolished over 30k so assume that is what they consider middle income.

Don't think it should apply to everyone Chilli - we have a good life although have had to work bloody hard to get here with a few hairy moments along the way.

I only work part time and get paid quite well for that but I presume that I won't get it becsuse of what DH earns?

Don't get excited about the £10k tax allowance, it will be phased in over a number of years.

Wouldn't surprise me if the bulk of it happens (coincidentally of course) around the time of the next GE.

Didn't Gordon Brown tell us all what they planned for CTC?

"I only work part time and get paid quite well for that but I presume that I won't get it becsuse of what DH earns"

I think it's been a long time since married couples had their income assessed jointly. Any allowances due to you as an individual tax-payer will come to you regardless of what your husband earns.

I'd like the £10k tax allowance to be universal if it happens because I think pegging it to income on a sliding scale will make calculating tax unnecessarily complicated. One number for all... nice and simple

Makes me actually feel guilty that I may get more money when we don't actually need it though so maybe mine and DHs should be linked somehow!

"Well tax credits are going to be abolished over 30k so assume that is what they consider middle income."

Is that true? bottom line?

If your conscience troubles you unduly there are lots of worthy charities you can send all that spare money to. And, if you like, I'll even send you my bank details. ;)

According to sky news this morning but they could be wrong as no one really knows until tuesday.

if DH was offered a job to bring our income to 30k or higher, the absence of tax credits over this point would not dissuade me from advising him to bite their hand off take it.

but my feeling on this one is that the government should not be doling out money just so households can feel a bit more comfortable, it should be where there is an actual need.

i did think there was an element of buying votes about the eligibility of averagely incomed families for tax-credits, and also...it served as sleight of hand. People accept others on Tx-cs as non-scroungers because they get some too.

Scroungers? Yeah, anyone who works their arse off 40 hours a week for £5.80 an hour is undoubtedly a scrounger.

I don't see how £25k can be a middle-class family income when you compare it with the kind of mortgage that would get you.

What multiple of salary do mortgage companies allow nowadays? It always used to be 3x combined income but I realise that has changed a bit. But even double that, 6x £25k, would only get you £150,000 - and you only need ten minutes looking through our Property Guide to realise that isn't going to buy you a house anywhere remotely "middle-class" in this city

I think the point where you start paying 40% tax is middle income. We have a combined income of around £51k which can increase due to oncall bonuses. We have never claimed any benefits as somehow don't feel we qualify/need it. I am immensly glad of that now.

Would miss the child benefit, but it wouldn't be awful.

Unquiet we would be a middle class family even if we earned 15K a year, but I am being pedantic I think you mean middle income.

In my very middle class village you need about 300K to buy a 3 bed house house.

Well, yes, people seem to be throwing about these terms "middle classes" and "middle income" as if they were interchangeable, so apologies for falling into the same trap. I've never defined class by income.