Tax Cuts Should Target Families With Children – New Poll Says
A representative online poll of over 2000 GB adults for the Family Hubs Network suggests that voters would strongly support a more family-friendly taxation system and for any income tax cut in the Budget to be focused on households with children.
These households are the ones who have been most affected by the rise in the cost of living. There was particularly strong support for family tax cuts among people with dependent children. 55% said this was a top priority. Over 80% of parents with dependent children say the UK tax system was unfair. There was support for tax cuts for families among Labour and Lib Dem voters as well as Conservative voters. Young people were most in favour of family tax cuts.
51% thought the marriage allowance should be doubled. 69%. thought that entitlement to child benefit should be linked to family income. At present the High Income Child Benefit Charge means that entitlement to the benefit is in effect lost if one parent earns £60,000.
Tax and the Family’s Leonard Beighton and Don Draper, both former officials, have been calling for the fairer taxation of families for almost 25 years. Commenting on this latest polling they said if this polling is correct it shows that there is a need to rethink the way tax system applies to people with children which none of the political parties have yet taken on board.
Figures published by the Treasury last year showed that a household consisting of two adults and two children would need a gross income of almost £59,000 to have an average standard of living. A single adult, the Treasury say, could achieve the same standard of living earning as little as £26,000. Their income tax liabilities would be very different. With the tax burden at an historically high level it is all the more necessary that the tax system is equitable. As the Treasury’s own figures show the tax system is not equitable. Households with children bear a disproportionate share. Moreover, because of the overlap with the benefit system many of these families have an effective marginal rate of 68% or higher which means there is little incentive to earn more. None of the political parties seem to be aware of this or concerned.
The Family Hubs Network was co-founded by former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Michael Farmer and David Cameron’s former family policy adviser Dr Samantha Callan.