Monday 4 October 2010

Child benefit to be scrapped for higher taxpayers

George Osborne has announced that child benefit will be axed for higher rate taxpayers from 2013. Talking on BBC One's Breakfast programme ahead of his appearance at the Conservative party conference, Osborne said the move would save about £1bn. "It's a big decision for us, but we think it's absolutely necessary and fair given the financial situation we face," he said. Bill and Sian could be heard choking on their croissants.

Families earning over about £44,000 would be affected. He said: "It's very hard to justify taxing people on much lower incomes in order to pay the child benefit to some of the better off in our society. It's not a decision taken lightly, but given the scale of the debts Labour's left us with, and given they've left us with no plan and we've had to come up with proposals, we think this is fair." We're just glad you could spare the time, George.

At the moment, parents are paid £20.30 a week for the eldest child and £13.40 for subsequent children, with payments continuing until the age of 19 for those in full-time education. As soon as I discover the reason for these payments, I'll let you know. Maybe they're compensation or something.