How the tax system punishes couples for being married

Married couples are being brutally punished by Labour's tax and benefit system, according to research to be published tomorrow.

Experts say that couples where one partner works and the other stays at home are the worst affected, paying a far higher proportion of their incomes to the taxman than in almost any other civilised country.

Britain is almost alone in failing to reward couples that stay together, according to the first international study of its kind.

A one-earner couple on average earnings of £30,800 a year pays 40 per cent more tax in Britain than in comparable members of the OECD group of developed nations.

And, compared to European Union states, the average family is paying 25 per cent more tax.

The study, carried out for Care, a Christian charity that tackles poverty, concludes that single people with no children do far better than families. Read more
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