Make Child Benefit FAIR!
Child Benefit Tax Charge Debate in House of Commons
On Thursday 2nd February at 1:30 pm, MPs will debate the Higher Rate Child Benefit Charge. This is an opportunity to press your MP to represent your view.
The distribution of Child Benefit must be fair. The current distribution can not be justified.
Poorer families lose their child benefit (or pay a tax charge) whilst contributing towards the child benefit of families who are much better off than they are, paying a disproportionately high amount of tax.
This particularly penalises single-earner families who are trying to support their families on one income. As the main breadwinner works harder/longer hours and gets a pay rise to support the growing family, he/she is punished by a very high marginal tax rate as, for every extra £1 earnt, they lose 69p in tax, National Insurance and loss of Child Benefit. Many of these families are not in the top 15% (as was presented by the Coalition government when it removed Child Benefit). They can be in the poorer half of the population.
Child Benefit should not be linked to an individual’s income. Household income should be the measure of how well-off a family is.
Child Benefit is also linked to credits towards pensions; many mothers are unknowingly missing out by not signing on for a Child Benefit they have to pay back.
Please write to your MP to ask them to raise these issues.
It is one of the most unfair tax penalties for families and desperately needs to be reformed.
Please also email the Sunday Times campaign for Fair Child Benefit.
MAHM would like to see:
An economic level playing field for parents who stay at home with the option of being taxed as a household with a transferable allowance for couples or an additional person’s allowance for single parents
Fair taxation for those who stay home and those who work
Childcare subsidies to follow the child, with parents able to choose whether they use it to stay home, or give it to a grandparent, childminder or external setting for care
Child benefit to be distributed fairly
All mothers to be eligible for their state pension regardless of whether they sign up to the Child Benefit or not
Further action?
Visit our Campaign Resource page for information relating to writing to your MP.
For more information about taxation: