Budget tax changes 'to cost some families £1,000'

Half a million working families will lose more than £1,000 under technical changes to tax credit allowances in last month's emergency Budget, according to new research today.

The TUC said changes announced by Chancellor George Osborne will hit families whose earnings fall because of unemployment, illness, retirement or bereavement.

The change will save the Government around £550 million a year, the study found.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "In his emergency Budget speech, the Chancellor promised not to hide any hard choices from the British people or bury them in the small print of the Budget documents.

"But this cut in tax credit entitlements was hidden in the detail and will make a real difference to some of our poorest and most vulnerable families, costing at least half a million households a year more than £1,000.

"This is another reminder that we are very definitely not all in this together. While the rich have been let off the hook, those on middle and low incomes are being left to pick up the cost of the recession."