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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Age Concern's response to the Social Security Committee's inquiry into the interaction of the tax and benefits systems | | Corporate Author | Age Concern England - ACE |
| Publisher | Age Concern England, London, October 1997 |
| Pages | 8 pp (Briefings, ref: 2097) |
| Source | Age Concern England, Astral House, 1268 London Road, London SW16 4ER. |
| Keywords | Social security benefits ; Taxation [older people] ; National insurance contributions ; Comments or Evidence submitted. |
| Annotation | Age Concern has argued for a long time that there should be a comprehensive review of the present income maintenance system. This should consider alternatives to the current systems which would provide an integrated tax and benefit system sensitive to individual needs, understandable to people and capable of removing current tax and benefit traps. This paper looks at the relationships between the different systems, concentrating on those based on NI (National Insurance) and means-tested benefits. Problems with the current system are described: difficulties in understanding the system; the complexity caused by different organisations administering different schemes; low take-up of some benefits; a poverty/saving trap; and possible administrative inefficiency. However, the extent to which reform would achieve changes and be feasible is dependent on introducing a system of common assessment, which is also sensitive to individual circumstances. Changes in the short term are required to deal with take-up of benefits and the poverty/savings trap. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-980622202 P |
| Classmark | JH: JS: JBC: 6PM * |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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