Martin Lewis has voiced support for a major tax change proposal put forward by the Conservative Party, saying "they're right" on a key issue.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch unveiled a raft of policy pledges in her speech at the Tory party conference this week, with measures including tightening welfare, prison expansion, as well as free childcare for higher-earning parents.
Childcare cliff-edge
The current rules mean parents in England stop getting childcare support when when either one of them has an adjusted net income of over £100,000. But under the proposals, all parents working 16 or more hours a week would be eligible to get 30 hours of free care a week. The estimate the policy would cost £700 million a year, which could be funded by reducing the number of public servants at arms-length bodies.
Ms Badenoch indicated people earning as much as £1 million a year would still be eligible for the entitlement but insisted the pledge was targeted at earners around the £100,000 threshold.
Mr Lewis, founder of personal finance platform MoneySavingExpert.com voiced support for the change in a post on X, writing: "The Conservatives have pledged to end the childcare support cliff-edge, where if a parent earns 1p over £100,000 they lose it.
"They're right, cliff edges are crap (tapers are better) though I'll leave the limit for the politicians to debate."
Ms Badenoch was asked by the BBC whether the policy should be tapered or means-tested in some way to avoid taxpayers subsidising incredibly wealthy parents, saying: "I believe that the number of people who have very small children who are earning tens of millions of pounds is negligible.
"What I think we need to focus on is the reality of most people out at work today, and what you're going to see at this conference is how we're having policies for everybody. Whether you don't earn, whether you earn a little, whether you earn a bit, whether you earn a lot, we want everyone in this country to know that if you are out there working, the Conservative Party has got a plan for you that we're going to get fit and working again."
Carer's Allowance concerns
Mr Lewis says the Carer's allowance "cliff-edge" also needs to be ditched, saying "I hope they'll support that as well, as its also a perverse incentive that disincentives work and is bad for the individual and the economy".
He explained that under the current policy, "an unpaid Carer caring 35hrs+ a week, earns 1p over £204/wk net limit, they lose all the £86 allowance", describing it as a "terrible system".
"While I'm at it: - The effective 'single highest earner' measure is used in child benefit as well as tax-free and funded childcare.
"Its unfair for single parent, single earner and dominant earner families, who may get less or nowt when neighbours with far higher combined earnings get it all - Tax-free childcare is misnamed it's a top up not tax free."
He added that it should instead be called the "working family childcare top-up" so the policy "does what it says on the tin".
Express.co.uk has reached out to the Government for comment.
