Firstly, I will tackle the tax bands (stop me if you've heard this before).
1. Personal allowance will be raised to £10,000
2. Between £10,001 and £30,000 you pay tax at 10%
3. Between £30,001 and £60,000 you pay tax at 20%
4. Between £60,001 and £100,000 you pay tax at 30%
5. Between £100,001 and £150,000 you pay tax at 40%
6. Above £150,001 you pay tax at 50%
Secondly, I do believe that if your family income (ie that of both parents together) is above £60,000 it is likely, that you are not reliant on child benefit to get you through the week. So why should you get the benefit?
Why am I against what the current government is suggesting given what I am suggesting. Well, the current top rate of tax starts at £37,401. The government is proposing that only one parent needs to be paying this tax rate to stop the benefit. The simplest way of expressing my concern is this;
Family A
Parent 1 earns £43875
Parent 2 earns £43875
Total income is £87750
Family B
Parent 1 earns £50350
Parent 2 earns £37400
Total income is £87750
So both families have the same income before tax.
Family A have a take home income of £72790 paying an average joint tax of 17%.
Family B have a take home income of £71495 paying an average joint tax of 18%
Family A will get child benefit while Family B doesn't. What is fair about that?
For the first time in my life, I can say, I agree with David Davis. The government need to think carefully about how they implement this cost saving measure.
