Latest news with #TomWaters
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Man dies after inflatable kayak capsizes in Arkansas River
DENVER (KDVR) — A 35-year-old man died after his kayak capsized and he became unconscious in the Arkansas River near Buena Vista on Friday afternoon. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said a call came in to Chaffee County dispatch around 3:15 p.m. after two private boaters in inflatable kayaks capsized their crafts. One kayaker was reportedly able to swim to shore, while the other was unconscious after his kayak capsized. CPW said a bystander in another kayak followed the unconscious man and pulled him to shore above Johnson's Village, where they began CPR and called 911. Littleton man missing since 2024 located in Colorado River nearly full year later Rangers from the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, Chaffee County EMS, Chaffee County Fire, the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office and CPW arrived on scene, but despite lifesaving efforts, CPW said the resuscitation was unsuccessful and the man was pronounced dead by the Chaffee County Coroner. 'Our deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of the victim,' said Tom Waters, the recreation area park manager. 'This appears to be a tragic accident.' Waters said both kayakers had appropriate safety equipment for this section of whitewater, including dry suits, personal flotation devices and helmets. The water was 52 degrees, and the river was running at 1,780 cubic feet per second. Waters said people should check conditions by calling the recreation area office before entering the river, or consider using a commercial rafting company if they're unfamiliar with the area or conditions. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
South Wales Argus
23-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Winter fuel payment changes that could help more pensioners
But he has not set out how the change to who is entitled to the payments worth up to £300 will look. The means-testing of pensioners' winter fuel payments is an issue which has been blamed for contributing to Labour's poor performance in May's local elections and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election. There are several options for how the Government could go about it. Full reversal One option would be a full reversal of the decision to strip the benefit from millions of pensioners. The decision to make it available only to those who claim pension credit last year meant those claiming winter fuel payment fell by almost 90% and saved around £1.5 billion a year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates. Undoing last year's policy change would make some 11 million more households eligible and of course wipe out the £1.5 billion in savings. Create a specific threshold for winter fuel Creating a new threshold and means test would allow households not on pension credit to apply directly for winter fuel payments. Raising it 20% above the pension credit threshold would cost around £100 million and see winter fuel payments go to around 400,000 more families, according to the Resolution Foundation. One option would be to model this on child benefit by allowing all pensioner households to claim but then require those above a certain income level to pay some back via a self assessment tax return, the IFS notes. But there is a risk to adopting 'a clunky bureaucratic mechanism for what is, ultimately, a relatively small payment', IFS associate director Tom Waters warned. Very pleased to just hear the Prime Minister has just said he wants more state pensioners to get Winter Fuel Payments (WFP) and they will work out what they're doing in time for the budget. As I've said since day one, there are two main problems with the way the means testing… — Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) May 21, 2025 Expand entitlement to those who get disability or housing benefits Some 1.8 million more households could get winter fuel payment at a cost of around £500 million per year if entitlement is extended to those on disability benefits, the IFS estimates. This would be more complicated to put in place in Scotland, where disability benefit is devolved. Extending eligibility to include those on housing and disability benefits would give support to 1.3 million more pensioner families at a cost of £300 million a year, the Resolution Foundation estimates. This would be an 'affordable' and 'sensible way forward', chief executive Ruth Curtice said. Recommended reading: Pay winter fuel money to individuals, not households One difficulty in allocating the winter fuel payment is that it currently goes to households rather than individuals. Changing this would mean the Government could do a means test on an individual basis and use information that it already records for income tax purposes. It would see pensioners with a low income but with a high-income spouse get the winter fuel payment. However, it could also see couples get twice as much winter fuel payment as single people, where at the moment a single person would get the same amount as a couple sharing a household.
North Wales Chronicle
22-05-2025
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Winter fuel payment changes that could help more pensioners
But he has not set out how the change to who is entitled to the payments worth up to £300 will look. The means-testing of pensioners' winter fuel payments is an issue which has been blamed for contributing to Labour's poor performance in May's local elections and the Runcorn and Helsby by-election. There are several options for how the Government could go about it. One option would be a full reversal of the decision to strip the benefit from millions of pensioners. The decision to make it available only to those who claim pension credit last year meant those claiming winter fuel payment fell by almost 90% and saved around £1.5 billion a year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates. Undoing last year's policy change would make some 11 million more households eligible and of course wipe out the £1.5 billion in savings. Creating a new threshold and means test would allow households not on pension credit to apply directly for winter fuel payments. Raising it 20% above the pension credit threshold would cost around £100 million and see winter fuel payments go to around 400,000 more families, according to the Resolution Foundation. One option would be to model this on child benefit by allowing all pensioner households to claim but then require those above a certain income level to pay some back via a self assessment tax return, the IFS notes. But there is a risk to adopting 'a clunky bureaucratic mechanism for what is, ultimately, a relatively small payment', IFS associate director Tom Waters warned. Very pleased to just hear the Prime Minister has just said he wants more state pensioners to get Winter Fuel Payments (WFP) and they will work out what they're doing in time for the budget. As I've said since day one, there are two main problems with the way the means testing… Some 1.8 million more households could get winter fuel payment at a cost of around £500 million per year if entitlement is extended to those on disability benefits, the IFS estimates. This would be more complicated to put in place in Scotland, where disability benefit is devolved. Extending eligibility to include those on housing and disability benefits would give support to 1.3 million more pensioner families at a cost of £300 million a year, the Resolution Foundation estimates. This would be an 'affordable' and 'sensible way forward', chief executive Ruth Curtice said. Recommended reading: One difficulty in allocating the winter fuel payment is that it currently goes to households rather than individuals. Changing this would mean the Government could do a means test on an individual basis and use information that it already records for income tax purposes. It would see pensioners with a low income but with a high-income spouse get the winter fuel payment. However, it could also see couples get twice as much winter fuel payment as single people, where at the moment a single person would get the same amount as a couple sharing a household.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Middle-class parents £17k poorer than five years ago
Surging nursery fees and stealth taxes have left middle-class parents £17,000 worse off compared to five years ago, figures show. Data from the Office for National Statistics show that high-earning parents have seen their disposable income fall by nearly a fifth since 2020. The highest-earning 20pc of parents had £74,129 left after tax in 2023-24 – down from £91,265 in 2019-20. The sharp 18.8pc drop means they have seen their incomes fall much faster than parents on middle or low earnings. High-earning married couples with no children fare better but also have felt the pain of higher taxes, with average disposable incomes of £104,606, down by £4,765 in five years. It comes after workers face significant tax rises by stealth, with the Government having frozen income tax bands since 2022 rather than raising them with inflation. Tom Waters, from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: 'We've had a reasonable amount of fiscal drag in the form of tax thresholds being frozen, whilst inflation and nominal earnings growth have been very strong. 'That increases the tax liability for higher income people in particular. That is an important factor.' Jeremy Hunt, the former chancellor, also slashed the additional rate threshold for when people start paying income tax of 45pc to £125,140 from £150,000 in April 2023. The figures published by the ONS suggest that top-earning parents have the lowest disposable income in 20 years once accounting for inflation. The last time their income after tax was lower was in 2003-04, at £73,765 in today's money. This figure is before factoring in childcare costs, with British parents paying some of the highest nursery fees of any rich country and little support being available to high earners. Parents who earn over £100,000 lose access to thousands of pounds in government support such as free nursery hours and tax credits. IFS analysis has previously shown that a parent in London with two children in nursery would need to earn more than £149,000 to actually be better off if a pay rise put them over the £100,000 threshold. It comes as nursery fees have surged over the past decade, rising much faster than inflation. The latest figures from Coram, the children's charity, show the cost of a part-time nursery place for under-twos rose by 7.7pc in 2024 from the previous year. The combination of surging taxes and some of the world's highest childcare costs has left many of Britain's high-earning parents feeling increasingly hard done by. Mr Waters said it is difficult to see the logic of the limit for childcare support, which has not been raised to account for inflation since its inception in 2017. He said: 'The childcare £100,000 threshold is pretty difficult to justify. There is no reason why someone with an income of £99,999 should be treated to the tune of thousands of pounds a year differently to someone who's on £100,000.' It comes as the number of people earning more than £100,000 a year is set to rise from 1.8m to 2.2m by the end of this parliament, according to the IFS. However, more tax rises could be coming down the tracks for high-earners who already feel squeezed. Rachel Reeves. the Chancellor, is widely expected to raise taxes in autumn if she falls short of her fiscal rules, with only a razor-thin £9.9bn margin of error if the economy deteriorates. There were rumours Ms Reeves had planned to extend the freeze on income tax thresholds beyond 2028 at her maiden Budget in October last year, but that she stopped short of it. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
03-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Middle-class parents £17k poorer than five years ago
Surging nursery fees and stealth taxes have left middle-class parents £17,000 worse off compared to five years ago, figures show. Data from the Office for National Statistics show that high-earning parents have seen their disposable income fall by nearly a fifth since 2020. The highest-earning 20pc of parents had £74,129 left after tax in 2023-24 – down from £91,265 in 2019-20. The sharp 18.8pc drop means they have seen their incomes fall much faster than parents on middle or low earnings. High-earning married couples with no children fare better but also have felt the pain of higher taxes, with average disposable incomes of £104,606, down by £4,765 in five years. It comes after workers face significant tax rises by stealth, with the Government having frozen income tax bands since 2022 rather than raising them with inflation. Tom Waters, from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: 'We've had a reasonable amount of fiscal drag in the form of tax thresholds being frozen, whilst inflation and nominal earnings growth have been very strong. 'That increases the tax liability for higher income people in particular. That is an important factor.' Jeremy Hunt, the former chancellor, also slashed the additional rate threshold for when people start paying income tax of 45pc to £125,140 from £150,000 in April 2023. The figures published by the ONS suggest that top-earning parents have the lowest disposable income in 20 years once accounting for inflation. The last time their income after tax was lower was in 2003-04, at £73,765 in today's money. This figure is before factoring in childcare costs, with British parents paying some of the highest nursery fees of any rich country and little support being available to high earners. Parents who earn over £100,000 lose access to thousands of pounds in government support such as free nursery hours and tax credits. IFS analysis has previously shown that a parent in London with two children in nursery would need to earn more than £149,000 to actually be better off if a pay rise put them over the £100,000 threshold. It comes as nursery fees have surged over the past decade, rising much faster than inflation. The latest figures from Coram, the children's charity, show the cost of a part-time nursery place for under-twos rose by 7.7pc in 2024 from the previous year. The combination of surging taxes and some of the world's highest childcare costs has left many of Britain's high-earning parents feeling increasingly hard done by. Mr Waters said it is difficult to see the logic of the limit for childcare support, which has not been raised to account for inflation since its inception in 2017. He said: 'The childcare £100,000 threshold is pretty difficult to justify. There is no reason why someone with an income of £99,999 should be treated to the tune of thousands of pounds a year differently to someone who's on £100,000.' It comes as the number of people earning more than £100,000 a year is set to rise from 1.8m to 2.2m by the end of this parliament, according to the IFS. However, more tax rises could be coming down the tracks for high-earners who already feel squeezed. Rachel Reeves is widely expected to raise taxes in autumn if she falls short of her fiscal rules, with only a razor-thin £9.9bn margin of error if the economy deteriorates. There were rumours Ms Reeves had planned to extend the freeze on income tax thresholds beyond 2028 at her maiden Budget in October last year, but that she stopped short of it.
