Post by nickd on Dec 31, 2012 9:10:03 GMT 1
Duncan Smith condemns tax credits
as 'not fit for purpose'
Or is he just warming up to an attack on those who claim in work benefits?
Iain Duncan Smith has become boringly predictable in his attack on those who claim benefits. Initially it was all to do with Britain on the sick with a 'Labour inherited' culture whereby 75% of those on the sick were 'faking' their illnesses. IDS has made radical promises to transform the lives of millions with the introduction of his much troubled Universal Credit, against all the evidence he's still insisting he's 'on track, on time and on budget' to deliver his revolutionary reforms which he continues to promise are a major step towards helping 'Britain back to work'.
To date he's attacked all of the incapacity and disability benefits which his own government introduced in the 1990's, it was a convenient way of massaging the Tories disastrous record on creating ridiculously high unemployment figures.
So with a message all about improving the work ethics of those IDS deems as faking their illnesses why has he now turned on those who work and claim tax credits?
A BBC article exposes IDS's latest plan of attack...
The work and pensions secretary has attacked the tax credit system put in place by Labour, saying it had resulted in "a sorry story of dependency, wasted taxpayers' money and fraud".
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Iain Duncan Smith said the credits - to top up the incomes of the lower-paid - were "haemorrhaging money".
He said fraud and error in the system under Labour had cost £10bn.
Even for true claimants, "tax credits were not fit for purpose", he said.
Tax credits are paid based on estimates given by claimants for their income for the year ahead, with HM Revenue & Customs responsible for reclaiming any overpayments at the end of the year.
"In the years between 2003 and 2010, Labour spent a staggering £171bn on tax credits, contributing to a 60% rise in the welfare bill," Mr Duncan Smith said.
The system, he said, "was wide open to abuse".
The so-called "income disregard" - the amount a person's income can rise before their claim must be reassessed - was raised from £2,500 to £25,000 in 2008.
"It will come as no surprise therefore that fraudsters from around the world targeted this benefit for personal gain," Mr Duncan Smith said.
The government is planning to slash the disregard to £5,000.
Mr Duncan Smith also said that officials carried out far fewer checks on tax credit claims than benefit claims, despite estimates that one in 12 tax credit claims were incorrect or fraudulent, compared with fewer than one in 25 benefit claims.
The government believes there is more than £300m to be saved over the next three years by reducing fraud and error, and also wants to reclaim £400m in unpaid debts.
"Even for those in genuine need of support, tax credits were not fit for purpose," Mr Duncan Smith said.
"They were haemorrhaging money while at the same time trapping people in a system where those trying hard to increase the amount of hours they worked weren't necessarily better off."
Mr Duncan Smith is leading an overhaul of the welfare system that will see a number of benefits replaced by a new universal credit that is designed, he says, "to make work pay at each and every hour".
He also accused previous Labour governments of boosting tax credit payments ahead of the last two general elections in "an attempt to gain short-term popularity".
"It knew what it was doing - this was a calculated attempt to win votes," he said.
In a further article in the London Evening Standard IDS declares war on the tax credit with a bizare claim it was introduced to soften up voters in to voting Labour; the accent is very much on an IDS favourite 'fraud & error...
"In the years between 2003 and 2010, Labour spent a staggering £171 billion on tax credits, contributing to a 60% rise in the welfare bill," he said. "Far too much of that money was wasted, with fraud and error under Labour costing over £10 billion."
Mr Duncan Smith said HM Revenue and Customs conducts checks on far fewer tax credit claims than suspected benefit fraudsters. That is despite about one in 12 tax credit claims being incorrect or fraudulent, compared with fewer than one in 25 benefit claims.
Payments are based on estimates of income for the coming year, and after 2008 HMRC did not attempt to reclaim overpayments of less than £25,000. That is set to be reduced to £5,000 under the coalition, alongside moves to require proof of payments from those claiming for childcare or that children aged between 16 and 19 are in full-time education.
The Government hopes to save more than £300 million in the next three years by reducing fraud and error, and also wants to recover more than £400 million in unpaid debts.
Mr Duncan Smith is overseeing a fundamental overhaul of welfare which will see tax credits rolled into a new Universal Credit which is meant to simplify the system and better incentivise work.
More here
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20873180#TWEET487501
www.standard.co.uk/panewsfeeds/duncan-smith-slams-tax-credit-abuse-8433728.html
as 'not fit for purpose'
Or is he just warming up to an attack on those who claim in work benefits?
Iain Duncan Smith has become boringly predictable in his attack on those who claim benefits. Initially it was all to do with Britain on the sick with a 'Labour inherited' culture whereby 75% of those on the sick were 'faking' their illnesses. IDS has made radical promises to transform the lives of millions with the introduction of his much troubled Universal Credit, against all the evidence he's still insisting he's 'on track, on time and on budget' to deliver his revolutionary reforms which he continues to promise are a major step towards helping 'Britain back to work'.
To date he's attacked all of the incapacity and disability benefits which his own government introduced in the 1990's, it was a convenient way of massaging the Tories disastrous record on creating ridiculously high unemployment figures.
So with a message all about improving the work ethics of those IDS deems as faking their illnesses why has he now turned on those who work and claim tax credits?
A BBC article exposes IDS's latest plan of attack...
The work and pensions secretary has attacked the tax credit system put in place by Labour, saying it had resulted in "a sorry story of dependency, wasted taxpayers' money and fraud".
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Iain Duncan Smith said the credits - to top up the incomes of the lower-paid - were "haemorrhaging money".
He said fraud and error in the system under Labour had cost £10bn.
Even for true claimants, "tax credits were not fit for purpose", he said.
Tax credits are paid based on estimates given by claimants for their income for the year ahead, with HM Revenue & Customs responsible for reclaiming any overpayments at the end of the year.
"In the years between 2003 and 2010, Labour spent a staggering £171bn on tax credits, contributing to a 60% rise in the welfare bill," Mr Duncan Smith said.
The system, he said, "was wide open to abuse".
The so-called "income disregard" - the amount a person's income can rise before their claim must be reassessed - was raised from £2,500 to £25,000 in 2008.
"It will come as no surprise therefore that fraudsters from around the world targeted this benefit for personal gain," Mr Duncan Smith said.
The government is planning to slash the disregard to £5,000.
Mr Duncan Smith also said that officials carried out far fewer checks on tax credit claims than benefit claims, despite estimates that one in 12 tax credit claims were incorrect or fraudulent, compared with fewer than one in 25 benefit claims.
The government believes there is more than £300m to be saved over the next three years by reducing fraud and error, and also wants to reclaim £400m in unpaid debts.
"Even for those in genuine need of support, tax credits were not fit for purpose," Mr Duncan Smith said.
"They were haemorrhaging money while at the same time trapping people in a system where those trying hard to increase the amount of hours they worked weren't necessarily better off."
Mr Duncan Smith is leading an overhaul of the welfare system that will see a number of benefits replaced by a new universal credit that is designed, he says, "to make work pay at each and every hour".
He also accused previous Labour governments of boosting tax credit payments ahead of the last two general elections in "an attempt to gain short-term popularity".
"It knew what it was doing - this was a calculated attempt to win votes," he said.
In a further article in the London Evening Standard IDS declares war on the tax credit with a bizare claim it was introduced to soften up voters in to voting Labour; the accent is very much on an IDS favourite 'fraud & error...
"In the years between 2003 and 2010, Labour spent a staggering £171 billion on tax credits, contributing to a 60% rise in the welfare bill," he said. "Far too much of that money was wasted, with fraud and error under Labour costing over £10 billion."
Mr Duncan Smith said HM Revenue and Customs conducts checks on far fewer tax credit claims than suspected benefit fraudsters. That is despite about one in 12 tax credit claims being incorrect or fraudulent, compared with fewer than one in 25 benefit claims.
Payments are based on estimates of income for the coming year, and after 2008 HMRC did not attempt to reclaim overpayments of less than £25,000. That is set to be reduced to £5,000 under the coalition, alongside moves to require proof of payments from those claiming for childcare or that children aged between 16 and 19 are in full-time education.
The Government hopes to save more than £300 million in the next three years by reducing fraud and error, and also wants to recover more than £400 million in unpaid debts.
Mr Duncan Smith is overseeing a fundamental overhaul of welfare which will see tax credits rolled into a new Universal Credit which is meant to simplify the system and better incentivise work.
More here
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20873180#TWEET487501
www.standard.co.uk/panewsfeeds/duncan-smith-slams-tax-credit-abuse-8433728.html