Tax credit debt help for thousands

Tens of thousands of families in Yorkshire face the possibility of needing debt help after the implications of new tax credit rules were revealed.

The Yorkshire Post found that more than 135,000 (135,700) middle-class families across the region will have their tax credits cut, which could be the straw that breaks that camel’s back as far as the precarious finances of some are concerned.

Over 80,000 (81,600) of these families could be earning as little as £30,000 a year, which may not be enough to make ends meet and lead to debt misery, according to Labour.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper says that tax credits can prove "invaluable for working mothers" to help them pay for childcare costs.

However, Deputy PM Nick Clegg has backed the move saying that it is only stopping tax credits for "people who don’t really need it".

Kevin Still, director of Atlantic Financial Management, says: "Many of the measures for benefit entitlement seem a bit one dimensional based around gross income.

"This tends to ignore the fact that many homeowners are stuck in negative equity traps and are incurring very high essential running costs when they would prefer to have downsized."

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