There are reasons why some working people do not pay tax

Michael Dodds (February 5) responds to my earlier letter on the excellent news around job and wage growth with the usual unsubstantiated stock response.

He claims without providing a shred of evidence that “the new jobs are low paid, zero hours, they pay no tax into the treasury.”

With regards to the low paid claim I would say The Guardian flattens this with its report that “UK pay growth surges as employment hits record high”.

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It added “Average weekly earnings were up 3.4%. The average weekly wage is now £494.

As for zero-hour contracts, a recent Office for National Statistics report shows that around 3% of the workforce are on zero-hour contracts.

A separate report by The Taylor Review found that 68% of people working on zero-hour contracts did not want more hours. The average person on a zero hours contract in mid-2018 worked about 25 hours per week.

For many this suited their needs to cope with family commitments, studies etc.

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Michael is correct in saying that people on low pay are not paying tax. This is because the Government has changed the tax thresholds.

Four million people have been taken out of tax altogether with a further 28million having their tax liability reduced.

Alan Wright