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04/27/2010: "Election - WHY do we need working and child tax credits?"
if the people of britain are so well off, labour tell us it is "labour that have taken more and more people out of poverty" and "its labour that have provided more support for families since 1997"
so why then do the people of britain need child tax and working tax credits, to live?
today, more than 20 million people need a form of tax credit to live - why is that?
tax credits of ALL kinds, are a taxpayer/state funded benefit, that needs to be claimed and personal information has to be given.
these claimants cannot afford to live on one full time working wage and need this topped up by taxpayers.
how can we all as a country, grow and prosper, when more and more people each year require a state benefit to live?
public transport prices have trebled (government owned network rail have pushed up prices for train users via higher charges for train operators)
childcare prices have gone through the roof (some people now work full time to pay for childcare costs)
more than 100 NEW taxes from labour since 1997 (including a 5% tax on pension fund profits every year, which in the long term will hit every single person who claims a pension!)
food prices up well above inflation
house prices up by between four to six times what they were in 1997
... and many many more increased costs to our everyday lives.
yvette cooper spoke this morning, of paying all these tax credits straight into people's bank accounts allowing administration savings to cut the cost of government
just on this point alone...
but yvette cooper does not tell us:
how much has it cost the taxpayer for the IT/computer system for this?
how much has it cost the taxpayer for the staff to run this system?
how much has it cost the taxpayer for managers for the staff?
how much has it cost the taxpayer for the call centres where these people work?
how much has it cost the taxpayer for the staff to deal with mistakes, appeals, errors?
how much has it cost the taxpayer for all the other add on costs, sick pay, holidays, etc?
there is no alternative though...
yes there is!
why not reduce the levels of taxation that puts us back to the position where tax payer funded tax credits are not required!
if a government has to subsidise one single person, who works full time, but cannot afford their mortgage, food, transport, energy bills, etc, then something is drastically wrong!
labour tell us it was they, that introduced the minimum wage, the opposition parties said it would cost jobs, but it didnt!
thats all well and good, but they forgot to mention that with this minimum wage in place, we have 20 million people on a tax credit, which is a taxpayer funded benefit, just to live.
why not let people keep more of their money by lowering the burden of tax on everybody?
we wouldnt need call centres and computer systems, that the taxpayer's have had to fork out for.
as tax credit payments increase, so does the cost, and as the cost increases to pay for them, the level of taxation and/or borrowing, have to increase with it, to fund it.
eventually, as we are seeing now, the money will run out.
then what?
ALL parties of ALL colours and viewpoints have to tackle this huge problem, it cannot go on.
if you are lucky enough to have a labour canvasser knocking on your door (rather than just posting a leaflet and running) ask them how they are going to reduce the need for 20 million people having to claim a tax credit just to live?
ask them when will we see the burden of tax fall for people?
and ask them why, if they are "the party of fairness" - are some people earning over £50,000 a year, able to claim tax credits, when those on less than £30,000 a year are told that they are unable to receive tax credits?
what's fair about that?
