Tag Archives: income tax

Lib Dems secure a £905 tax cut for people in Haringey

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Working people in Haringey will benefit from a £905 income tax cut by 2018, thanks to a flagship Liberal Democrat policy announced during the Budget yesterday.

The Budget included Lib Dem plans to raise the tax-free personal allowance yet again to £10,800 in 2016/17 and £11,000 a year later.

In London these Liberal Democrat measures will lift at least 502,000 out of income tax altogether.

The Liberal Democrat’s 2015 manifesto includes measures to go further with a commitment to raise the tax-free to £12,500 by the end of the next parliament.

Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“This further income tax cut is the real budget boost for working people and takes even more of the lowest-paid and part-time workers out of income tax altogether.

“The Liberal Democrats are the one party to put these tax cuts on the front page of its manifesto and deliver them – helping low and middle income families across Britain.

“This is a Lib Dem policy and has been the most important and effective policy of this Government – reducing the tax bills of millions and millions of ordinary workers.

“Labour can’t build a strong enough economy to enable these kind of tax cuts. And the Conservatives wouldn’t have brought this in on their own.

“Only the Liberal Democrats can create opportunity for everyone by building a stronger economy and fairer society.”

Workers and apprentices in Haringey set to benefit from record minimum wage increase

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Lynne Featherstone MP with Communities Minister Stephen Williams MP (left) and apprentices from Building Lives.2,300 workers in Haringey will see a boost to their pay packet from October this year, thanks to Liberal Democrats in government.

The National Minimum Wage is set to rise by three per cent, which means workers will get a new rate of £6.70 an hour.

It is the largest real-terms increase in the National Minimum Wage since 2008, and over 1.4 million UK workers are set to benefit.

Lynne Featherstone MP said: “Thousands of people in Haringey have already felt the benefit of Lib Dem income tax cuts, and the increase in National Minimum Wage is another step in the right direction.

“These measures are helping low-paid and part-time workers the most – and this wouldn’t be happening without the Liberal Democrats in Government”

Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has also announced the National Minimum Wage for apprentices will increase by 57p an hour.

Nick Clegg said: “This is just one of the many ways in which we have created a fairer society while building a stronger economy.

“If you are on low pay, or starting your dream career through an apprenticeship, you will get more support to help you go further and faster.”

Lynne Featherstone MP welcomes £825 tax cut for working people

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The Autumn Statement last year revealed plans to increase the personal allowance, meaning workers get to keep more of their salary before they start paying income tax.

This means that, by April, the Liberal Democrats will have delivered a £825 income tax cut for working people across the UK.

Raising the tax-free personal allowance to £10,000 – a tax cut of £700 – was on the front of the Liberal Democrat 2010 manifesto

But by the end of this parliament Liberal Democrats will have gone further, and raised this allowance to £10,600.

In London this will lift at least 49,000 low-paid and part-time workers out of paying income tax altogether.

Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, Lynne Featherstone MP said:

“This tax cut is a real budget boost for working people, and takes even more low-paid and part-time workers out of paying income tax altogether.

“The Liberal Democrats were the only party to put these tax cuts for workers on the front page of its manifesto – and now we have delivered them.

“We are also making sure those at the top pay their fair share too. In Government, we’ve clawed back £9 billion from tax dodgers.”

Lib Dem action on tax helps to ease the cost of living

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Here’s my latest Ham and High column – also available on Lib Dem Voice.

There are so many perks of living in Haringey – vibrant high streets, good transport links, wonderful parks and views – to name but a few!

But on the downside, our bin collections, roads and other public services are notoriously bad. Haringey Council – which is run by Labour – has been rated the worst in London.

Week in, week out, Haringey Labour seem to lurch from one crisis to another. They failed to meet their own targets for making our local roads safe, and allowed £3.7 million to be spent on bonuses which could have been spent on repairs to local homes.

This just isn’t fair on local residents or the hard working officials and frontline workers at the Council. We all deserve a Council that is run efficiently, and directed to spend taxpayers money on the things that matter most.

Despite the poor services, under the previous Labour Government the average Council Tax bill in Haringey increased by a whopping £474. Year on year, Council Tax for Haringey residents increased way above the rate of inflation.

Constantly rising Council Tax did not help individuals and families with the cost of living – particularly after the recession began.

The Liberal Democrats, however, are taking steps to help with the cost of living. Addressing spiralling Council Tax bills is one of these steps.

Since the Liberal Democrats entered Government in 2010 – Council Tax for Haringey residents has been frozen. This is due to successful local Liberal Democrat campaigning, and the Government giving extra cash to any Council if they do not increase Council Tax.

This protects residents from the kind of arbitrary tax rises we saw under Labour.  A typical Band D Council Tax bill in Haringey will be £229.63 less from April 2014 than if Labour’s increases carried on as before.

The Liberal Democrats in Government have also secured a £700 tax cut for all workers.

In April, the personal tax allowance (the amount of your salary you can keep before being taxed) will rise to £10,000.

This means that almost 90,000 residents will get to keep an extra £700 of their pay-packet this year. This is a flagship Lib Dem policy – it was on the front of our 2010 manifesto and it has been delivered in Government. We’re now campaigning to make it an £800 tax cut.

This is real Lib Dem action to bring the cost of living down for local residents. The Tories alone would not have done this. In 2010, David Cameron said ‘we couldn’t afford it.’ Labour had 13 years in Government to bring in policies like this – and they failed to do so.

There is still so much work to do. The economic crisis has taken its toll on many in Haringey, and we are only just beginning to see signs of recovery.

But these measures, Council Tax freezes and the £700 tax cut for all workers are designed to help with the cost of living, and they wouldn’t be happening without the Lib Dems in Government.

Liberal Democrats this week take over a thousand low paid Haringey workers out of paying tax

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Over a thousand of Haringey’s lowest paid workers will this week be taken out of paying income tax altogether, and over 75,000 residents will see a cash-boost of £200 as the Liberal Democrat changes to income tax come into force in the new financial year.
 
The welcome relief is the first step in the implementation of a key Liberal Democrat policy, to ensure that by 2015 no one earning less than £10,000 a year pays any income tax. In the recent budget, the government announced that by next April, another 900 Haringey residents will be relieved of income tax, while close to a 100,000 will get the much-needed cash boost of yet another £126, as the income tax threshold increases to £8105.
 
Lynne Featherstone MP comments:
 
“I am proud that this week, Liberal Democrats are cutting taxes for about 1,300 low-paid residents in Haringey. This policy has gone from the front page of our manifesto to the pockets of thousands of people across Hornsey and Wood Green and beyond.
 
“But that’s not all. Close to 80,000 people in Haringey will get a £200 tax cut this year, and the recent budget announcement means another £126 back in people’s pockets next year.
 
“Step by step, we are taking those on the lowest incomes out of paying tax altogether, with the threshold raised to £10,000 by the end of this parliament, and over a hundred thousand residents on modest incomes feeling real benefits too. That’s real help where it’s needed most; and I’m proud to be part of this.”

Budget 2011 – help for thousands of low paid residents in Haringey

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It is estimated that over a thousand of the lowest paid residents in Haringey will not have to pay income tax from April 2011 after the announcement by the government today that the tax threshold will increase by £630 to £8105.
 
The effect of the government’s change to income tax rates is estimated to reduce annual tax bills by £200 for 76,000 local residents and lift 1,300 people in the borough from paying any income tax at all. 
 
The announcement by the coalition government is the next step in the implementation of a key Liberal Democrat policy to ensure, by 2015, that no-one earning less than £10,000 a year pays income tax.
 
Welcoming the announcement, Cllr Richard Wilson, Deputy Leader of Haringey Liberal Democrats, comments:
 
“I welcome the government’s recognition that local residents should be free from central government taxes on their income less than £8015. When people want to work they should have incentives that show work pays. This will help some of the lowest paid workers in Haringey and is a great step towards tackling the inequality in this borough which has festered under Labour.”
 
Lynne Featherstone MP added:
 
“This is another step towards achieving the Liberal Democrat aim to ensure that no-one has to pay tax on the first £10,000 of their hard-earned wages. I am glad that, even after the horrendous state Labour left our public finances, Liberal Democrats in government are still able to deliver real benefits for local people struggling on low wages.”