{"id":7574,"date":"2016-02-03T17:23:42","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T17:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7574"},"modified":"2016-02-04T11:06:29","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T11:06:29","slug":"punished-for-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7574","title":{"rendered":"Punished for working"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

One would be forgiven for thinking that Google\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recent tax deal with the HMRC<\/a>, which held the tech giant liable for only \u00c2\u0141130m over the last decade, must be an anomaly.<\/p>\n

 
\nSurely, the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s richest must shoulder the greatest tax burden in the UK, especially considering the present government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pledge to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098make work pay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, to allow struggling families to keep more of the money they earn as they labour their way out of poverty.<\/p>\n

 
\nBut a new study published today<\/a> (February 3) has found that it is the poorest, in fact, whose income is taxed at a higher rate \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and this injustice is set to intensify as the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Universal Credit programme rolls out, replacing the previous in-work social security system.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe Equality Trust found that families currently receiving tax credits and paying Income Tax and National Insurance contributions lose an astounding 73p for every additional \u00c2\u01411 they earn, which could increase to 76p for every \u00c2\u01411 under Universal Credit.<\/p>\n

 
\nBy comparison, someone living in a household in the top 1 per cent loses only 47p for every additional \u00c2\u01411 they earn.<\/p>\n

 
\nUniversal Credit (UC), the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flagship programme which rolls six benefits into one, has been beset by technology failures which delayed its initial rollout by years. Now, UC is slowly being introduced throughout the country, but already research groups and ministers have strongly criticised the way it has been set up.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe Equality Trust also conducted a survey in conjunction with Ipsos MORI which examined the public\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beliefs about in-work support.<\/p>\n

 
\nWhen asked how much of any additional \u00c2\u01411 earned a working parent receiving tax credits with a gross annual income of \u00c2\u014110,600 should get to keep, 83 per cent of adults aged 16-75 gave an answer greater than the 27 per cent of every \u00c2\u01411 they currently earn over that amount.<\/p>\n

 
\nOn average, the public believe this same working parent should keep three-quarters of the next \u00c2\u01411 they earn. But in reality, that worker would lose almost three-quarters of the next \u00c2\u01411 they earn.<\/p>\n

 
\nA strong majority also believed that someone earning \u00c2\u014110,600 should get to keep a larger share of every additional \u00c2\u01411 they earn that those whose income is \u00c2\u0141150,000 each year.<\/p>\n

 
\nAlong with the Equality Trust, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has also said today (February 3) in a separate analysis that Universal Credit will leave many working families worse off.<\/p>\n

 
\nMore working households will be worse off than better off after UC is introduced \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 2.1m families will suffer an average loss of \u00c2\u01411600 every year.<\/p>\n

 
\nFor those not in work, the loss is even more dramatic \u00e2\u20ac\u201c more than 1m households will be \u00c2\u01412,300 worse off each year.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe majority of those who will see their incomes tumble under UC will be working single parents and two-earner couples.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Equality Trust director Duncan Exley noted that their report shows how UC \u00e2\u20ac\u015bfails on its own terms, and leaves the poorest running up the down escalator, struggling to keep pace with others.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t keep pretending that our taxes and benefits system is fair when the rich are given all the ladders and the poor all the snakes,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe system doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098aspirational\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 hard-working families we often hear politicians talk about. If anything it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an Aspiration Tax.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite assistant general secretary Steve Turner agreed.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese reports highlight the absurdity of our tax and benefit system,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe poorest, who are struggling to escape poverty by working as hard as they can, are actually being punished for their efforts, while the richest 1 per cent get to hoard an ever-increasing portion of their excessive wealth.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis government bangs on about how it wants to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098make work pay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, but it is doing exactly the opposite,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd the Ipsos MORI survey shows that the vast majority of people are fundamentally opposed to a system that penalises working people who aspire to a better life for themselves and their families.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSubsidising the 1 per cent at the expense of the rest of us is the primary driver of rapidly growing inequality in the UK,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he went on to say. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhile low-paid, insecure jobs become a more entrenched reality of our economy, it is up to the government to ensure equality of opportunity for all. And that starts with a well thought out social security system that supports and empowers people.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One would be forgiven for thinking that Google\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recent tax deal with the HMRC, which held the tech giant liable for only \u00c2\u0141130m over the last decade, must be an anomaly.   Surely, the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s richest must shoulder the greatest tax burden in the UK, especially considering the present government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pledge to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098make work pay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[462],"wps_subtitle":"Poorest to shoulder greatest tax burden under Universal Credit","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7575,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7574\/revisions\/7575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}