Chartered accountants question legality of child benefit cuts
The Institute of Charted Accountants in England and Wales has claimed that forthcoming changes to child benefit could be “fundamentally incompatible with the UK’s European treaty obligations” and therefore open to legal challenge, as they will not affect all EU citizens working in the UK.
David Heaton, chairman of the tax faculty at the institute, told The Daily Telegraph: “You could find yourself in a British office, sitting next to a colleague from elsewhere in Europe who is paid the same as you, has the same number of children as you and is receiving benefits for them, but who is not facing the same tax charge from HMRC as you. That is discriminatory.”
The claim is based on the fact that some EU citizens working in the UK continue to receive family benefits from their home countries. The forthcoming cuts to UK child benefit will be enacted through a variable tax paid by families in which one partner is earning more than £50,000 per year, but the government cannot apply the tax to benefits received from other EU countries as it does not have access to the necessary salary information, says the Institute.
However, the government has rejected the claims. A spokesman said:
“We are clear that this legislation is fully compliant with EU law. Anyone who receives or whose partner receives child benefit in the UK and is resident for tax purposes will be liable for the charge whether they are a UK citizen or a migrant worker. Other countries may pay benefits to their citizens who are resident in the UK, but that does not affect the Parliament’s ability to legislate”.
Photo by AgriLife under a Creative Commons licence
|
Share this post
|
Get free family law updates
|
Marilyn Stowe’s new book: expert advice on all aspects of divorce, for just 99p!
Divorce & Splitting Up by Marilyn Stowe is the essential how-to book for anyone who is getting divorced or splitting up from a partner. Read more >>
"A must buy that really opens your eyes to what is involved if you are considering or going through a divorce." - Amanda Brown
"This will answer your questions in a way that non-lawyers can understand." - Miss P.
"This really has helped me to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel and I will come out of it a stronger person." - J
Awards
IAML
2 Comments
Mark Ross on January 4, 2013 at 11:40 pm
Are any organisations considering taking on this case that I could get in touch with please?
Rob on April 1, 2013 at 8:23 am
I think this whole bill is discriminatory, and would question it’s legality. If anyone is taking this on, i would be happy to support as someone whose family will loose out