Families are facing a cost of living crisis. Rachel Maclean a Government minister has said families can overcome the crisis by working more or getting a better job. For the five million plus families on universal credit working more makes very little difference.
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German like French families can share their tax liabilities. The rules are slightly different but the result is much the same.
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For federal income tax married couples have a choice. They can be taxed on the combined income of both spouses or separately.
Read MoreTax and the Family together with the charity CARE published on 30th March their annual report on the taxation of families in the UK and other OECD countries. The report calls for fairer taxation - not necessarily lower taxation. The report is timely. The tax burden in the UK is rising to its highest since the 1940s.
Read MoreAlong with the Spring Statement the Treasury released an analysis of the impact of tax, welfare and public service spending on households. To understand where different households fit into the distribution of incomes Treasury show the median gross incomes before housing costs for each decile. A family, they say, is likely to need more than twice as much income as a single. Tax and the Family have published similar data for after housing cost net incomes but this is the first time we have seen these official figures. The figures are very important and should inform any tax policy discussion.
Read MoreThe Chancellor said that he would be introducing a principled approach to taxation: the first help would be for families. Alas he did not do that today.
Read MoreTax and the Family together with the charity CARE are releasing a new report on the taxation of families on 30th March. The tax burden is increasing to a level not seen since the 1950s, energy prices are rocketing, inflation is rising, family budgets are coming under extreme strain.
Read MoreEmily Commander a freelance writer and journalist has written an instructive and amusing piece about how the French tax families for the “Good Life France” website.
French families get to share their tax liabilities between them, the more numerous the family, the smaller the bill.
Read MoreInflation is rising faster than today’s families have experienced for very many years. The BBC’s Today programme on 16th February featured a family in Wythenshawe with a mortgage who said they were not in poverty but were being hit by the cost of living crisis. To listen to the interview click here. The interview starts at 2:36.36.
One of the problems families like this face is that they are taxed as if they are well off even though this is not so.
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