George Osbourne Planning Tax credit cuts: Fair?

[PeteMorris 10]

Yes but at least they would never lose out. And if it was linked to RPI then their spending power would remain the same. In times of good economic growth it might be prudent for a government to raise it above the minimum as well but to enforce anything above inflation seem overzealous.

 

---------- Post added 11-06-2015 at 15:40 ----------

 

 

If that was the case Pete then when NMW was first brought in no employer would have complained as they would all have been paying above that limit. The amount of whining about it back in the 80s suggests otherwise, that employers were and still are taking the mickey with wages. The thing is that is their job. Businesses are there to make money, that is their SOLE raison d'etre. Legislation should be changed to ensure that a company can make money fairly but only if it's staff are paid fairly too. I don't see why these 2 goals cannot be legislated for.

 

I can't argue any point you make there......

 

Yes employers do take the Mickey...thankfully I have a job which pays far more than NMW...But I know people who are stuck on the low pay merry-go-round...Good, decent, hard working people, doing jobs I wouldn't entertain in my worst nightmare!

[the_bloke 17]

Don't forget the living wage is actually set by a government department who in a totally ironic manner pay their own staff less than that, so government employees also have to claim tax credits...nice one.

 

No, it isn't. The living wage is set annually by The Living Wage Foundation, part of Citizens UK.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_UK

[carosio 186]

One interesting aspect of Tax Credit, it appears, is that if you had a billion pounds in the bank (in a zero interest account) you could still claim it.

[Mister M 1,632]

Hardly any bankers, in this country anyway, responsible for the crunch have faced the consequences for their actions, yet those lower down the food chain are penalised. In the grand scheme of things no it's not fair.

However I'm much more concerned about the disabled and vulnerable who are about to be hammered. And unlike the middle classes in receipt of tax credits, very few in the House of Commons will speak up for them. As to do so risks looking 'anti aspirational'.

[RonJeremy 10]

Hardly any bankers, in this country anyway, responsible for the crunch have faced the consequences for their actions, yet those lower down the food chain are penalised. In the grand scheme of things no it's not fair.

However I'm much more concerned about the disabled and vulnerable who are about to be hammered. And unlike the middle classes in receipt of tax credits, very few in the House of Commons will speak up for them. As to do so risks looking 'anti aspirational'.

 

I thought it was a global crash? And nothing to do with the UK or the UK government??

[taxman 12]

Don't worry, everything will be fine once Universal Credit is here.

[I1L2T3 10]

I thought it was a global crash? And nothing to do with the UK or the UK government??

 

There was wrongdoing here too.

[El Cid 221]

A year ago if I'd read this I'd have been fuming. But since then I've read mumsnet.

 

I kid you not but middle England is as adept at cynically playing the system.

 

Is that 95% ?

 

I think you need to think about how many just claim what they are entitled to. Tax credits are there to make people vote for the Labour party, Osborne is right that if tax were lowered for some companies they could pay more, but most, with an over supply of workers, will not.

[I1L2T3 10]

Is that 95% ?

 

I think you need to think about how many just claim what they are entitled to. Tax credits are there to make people vote for the Labour party, Osborne is right that if tax were lowered for some companies they could pay more, but most, with an over supply of workers, will not.

 

95% what?

 

Look at the mumsnet 'Money Matters' forum. Follow it weekly. You will lose count of the numbers of people who openly talk about getting their hours down to 16, leaving employment to claim tax credits etc... They have been advising each other about it for years. It is very cynical although understandable. The front page of it right now is festooned with panicky messages from various posters about being investigated by HMRC over dodgy tax credit claims.

 

An eye opener.

 

Two things I've learned that usually kill a thread on Sheffield Forum and other forums:

1. Self-cert mortgage fraud

2. Cynical manipulation of the tax credit system

 

Two of the major financial themes for middle England over the last 10-15 years

Edited June 11, 2015 by I1L2T3

[poppet2 13]

If you are single, work fill or part-time, have no children and are on minimum wage, you get sweet FA.

 

It says:

 

'However, senior Tory sources suggest that over the years tax credits have allowed big companies to get away with paying employees lower wages.

They say the time has come for a shift from state pay-outs to companies shouldering more of the burden. The point is you have a lot of employers who are basically getting subsidy from the state for low paid work and we'd like to see a shift towards those employers who can afford to pay the living wage to pay the living wage.' HOW???

 

And the Government has only NOW, just discovered this!!!? Wake up.

 

And just how do the government propose to persuade companies to voluntarily pay their employees more?

Edited June 12, 2015 by poppet2

[The Joker 10]

If you are single, work fill or part-time, have no children and are on minimum wage, you get sweet FA.

 

Well then, you know what to do:

 

Get married, stop working, and have lots of babies!

 

Wait, New Labour encouraged that a decade ago, and it was a financial disaster.

[poppet2 13]

A year ago if I'd read this I'd have been fuming. But since then I've read mumsnet.

 

I kid you not but middle England is as adept at cynically playing the system as any 'waster' off benefits street. There are no end of people pretending to be self-employed or carefully engineering their working weeks to the minimum 16 hours so they can max out on tax credits.

 

I bet all those middle-class luvvies will go running back to vote Labour in five years time when they discover just how much they'll lose as a result of Osbourne's cuts.