Tax credits are designed to help people who work hard but who, through no fault of their own, don't earn enough to keep their families out of poverty.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Tax credits do not help people get better jobs; in fact, they can create poverty traps that actually disincentivise people from working more hours or finding a better paid job.
A properly designed tax system can strike a balance between helping the poor and, at the same time, giving people the incentive to work.
Labour ministers often look puzzled when reports show that Britain has one of the lowest levels of social mobility in the developed world. They just don't get it. They see poverty, inequality, fairness, as all about income. For the past 12 years, they have relied on tax credits to solve this. But tax credits do not solve poverty: they mask it.
It is only the poor who pay cash, and that not from virtue, but because they are refused credit.
Worrying about bills, food, or other problems leaves less capacity to think ahead or to exert self-discipline. So, poverty imposes a mental tax.
Rich people don't pay taxes? Of course they pay taxes - they pay tons in taxes. They pay for everyone else who doesn't pay taxes.
People try to live within their income so they can afford to pay taxes to a government that can't live within its income.
A lot of people are happy to give money to charities but are wary of giving through taxes because they feel it doesn't produce any value.
It is my belief that tax credits only go to people who are making money, and they generally keep it.
Tax bills create wealth. They help people live better.