truman Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 We have the most complicated tax system in the world. As for benefits, tax credits etc, this Government is tying everything up in so much red tape, nothing can function properly anymore. Add to that the fact that as they over-complicate things they also cut staff to deal with it, and you have a recipe for disaster. It's a government ploy, and if you give up, it's working. Heaven knows how much it's costing the country in appeals and tribunals, but one things for sure, there are a lot of lawyers and accountants getting very rich. Because it was all so simple when Gordon was in charge of the purse strings..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Are there? Do you know any? I know people in both professions and none of them have ever mentioned the gravy train of working for poor people who claim benefits and want to appeal something. I know people who work on behalf of disabled people, trying to get them the benefits they are clearly and unequivocally entitled to. They nearly always have to submit the application for reconsideration, and a good number have to go to the appeal tribunal. The appeal is usually before a board of worthies who sit permanently all over the country and all need paying. This is not cheap. It takes months, and generates a mountain of paper work, correspondence with medical practitioners, doctors, consultants, and other 'experts. including lawyers' This is not cheap either. This all has to be repeated every 3 years, even if it's obvious that a condition is permanent, and not going to improve. I suspect that tax credits take a similar amount of time and trouble to sort out, experts, accountants, correspondence etc, again, not cheap, to the point where it is hoped people will simply give up. All this has been proved to cost far more than it saves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 This is the fault of the government and the system Anna. It's not set up to make accountants or lawyers rich (and I don't think it is doing, legal aid work and working for the state are the worst ways to make money in the legal sector). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomjames Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 We have the most complicated tax system in the world. As for benefits, tax credits etc, this Government is tying everything up in so much red tape, nothing can function properly anymore. Add to that the fact that as they over-complicate things they also cut staff to deal with it, and you have a recipe for disaster. It's a government ploy, and if you give up, it's working. Heaven knows how much it's costing the country in appeals and tribunals, but one things for sure, there are a lot of lawyers and accountants getting very rich. It's a Labour government who brought it & expanded the tax credit system. I believe the conservatives have tried to simplify it. ---------- Post added 10-06-2016 at 15:23 ---------- This is the fault of the government and the system Anna. It's not set up to make accountants or lawyers rich (and I don't think it is doing, legal aid work and working for the state are the worst ways to make money in the legal sector). It's the fault of the LABOUR government, not this government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 It's a Labour government who brought it & expanded the tax credit system. I believe the conservatives have tried to simplify it. ---------- Post added 10-06-2016 at 15:23 ---------- It's the fault of the LABOUR government, not this government. That might be the spin they've given it, but trust me, with the Conservatives, it's alwys about cutting money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Arctor Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I know people who work on behalf of disabled people, trying to get them the benefits they are clearly and unequivocally entitled to. They nearly always have to submit the application for reconsideration, and a good number have to go to the appeal tribunal. The appeal is usually before a board of worthies who sit permanently all over the country and all need paying. This is not cheap. It takes months, and generates a mountain of paper work, correspondence with medical practitioners, doctors, consultants, and other 'experts. including lawyers' This is not cheap either. This all has to be repeated every 3 years, even if it's obvious that a condition is permanent, and not going to improve. I suspect that tax credits take a similar amount of time and trouble to sort out, experts, accountants, correspondence etc, again, not cheap, to the point where it is hoped people will simply give up. All this has been proved to cost far more than it saves. Hi Anna, the vast majority of tribunal cases are ESA and PIP, not to do with tax credits, and tribunal cases are generally brought by benefits advisers who are not on fantastic pay and are usually employed by charities. The cost is related to paying judges to sit on the tribunals and the cost of DWP managers time when they needlessly appeal decisions that they ought to know will not be overturned. ---------- Post added 10-06-2016 at 21:15 ---------- It's a Labour government who brought it & expanded the tax credit system. I believe the conservatives have tried to simplify it. ---------- Post added 10-06-2016 at 15:23 ---------- It's the fault of the LABOUR government, not this government. The Conservatives have done nothing to simplify it. The system has got better at knowing what you earned last year if you are only on PAYE but it's still ridiculously complicated. It would be far simpler to set the minimum wage at a genuine living wage and dispense with tax credits altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 It's the fault of the LABOUR government, not this government. Because well into their 2nd term in power, they simply haven't had the chance to fix it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomjames Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Doesn't change the fact labour brought tax credits in & expanded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psynuk Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 (edited) We've been here before, Tax credits weren't created by the labour government, they're a manifestation of a very old welfare system.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_tax_credit The WTC replaced the Working Families Tax Credit.. which replaced.. Family Credit, which was a United Kingdom social security benefit.. which replaced the Family Income Supplement.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Income_Supplement "was a means-tested benefit for working people with children introduced in Britain in 1970 by the Conservative government of Edward Heath" and it was just as moronic then as tax credits is 50 years later. All that was spawned from the 1942 Beveridge report,written by a liberal, and put into law by the conservatives in june 1945. Edited June 11, 2016 by psynuk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas J Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 We have received our renewal forms from tax credits today but decided to withdraw from receiving it because of over payments. We can't afford to keep doing this but we have been told we still have to send in our renewal for the previous year and thats where they hit you. Has anyone else done this? If you do this, you will still have a debt but no entitlement to this year's tax credits to help pay it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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