The Department of Work and Pensions released on 22 March figures which show how families fared in in 2016/17. A couple with two children under 14 would have needed after tax income of £357 per week to avoid being in “poverty” - 2.9% more than in 2015/16. If the family’s housing costs were £182 per week the family would have needed to earn £37,960 in 2016/17.
Read MoreOn 14th December the Scottish Government published its proposals for income tax rates and bands for 2018/19. The new rate structure will result in some Scottish families paying less than similar families in the rest of the United Kingdom but they will still be paying more than comparable families in other countries. Families entitled to Universal Benefit gain less as the increase in income that results in the cut in income tax reduces Universal Credit.
Read MoreJoseph Rowntree Foundation in a new report published in December 2017 say that 14 million people live in poverty in the UK – over one in five of the population.. Latest figures show that the majority of children in poverty are in working households. Most are couple families where one or more parents are in work. A couple with two children needed to have almost three times as much income as someone without children to avoid being in poverty. The income tax system takes no account of this.
Read MoreA new report highlights that a British family with an average wage in 2016 is likely to have paid over £3000 in income tax whereas a comparable family in France and Germany would have had no tax to pay and an American family would have had no Federal Income tax to pay – a major new report by Beighton, Draper and Pearson reveals.
Read MoreTax Credits are being replaced by the Universal Credit which replaces both tax credits and Housing Benefit. It does not replace Child Benefit.
Read MoreThe Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his Autumn Budget that the Income Tax Personal Allowance currently £11,500 is to be increased to £11,850 in April 2018 and the Higher Rate threshold, currently £45,000 is to be increased to £46,350.
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