The central member of a gang who stole more than £3m of tax credits has been jailed for five years, following an international investigation by HMRC. Tax credits are wide open to fraud. Lithuanian Ricardas Virokaitis was the linchpin of a gang who paid Eastern European women to come to the UK solely to register for benefits and tax credits. Virokaitis and his criminal colleagues escorted the...

The complex system of benefits and tax credits should be subjected to a radical simplification so that applicants can claim them by filling in a single form, a think tank report recommends today.

Tax credits and benefits for those in work or looking for a job could be scrapped and replaced with a new system based entirely on income tax.

The unemployed and other benefits claimants are expected to see the value of their welfare payments rise by more than 5 per cent, even as those on low incomes see their tax credits frozen, under government plans.

Benefits, tax credits and public sector pensions have been formally earmarked for potential cuts for the first time under Government plans to avert a Greek-style debt crisis, the Chancellor has disclosed.

Gordon Brown's flagship policy of using tax credits to tackle poverty traps families in a benefits cycle the Conservatives have warned.

Benefits are not an easy subject to get your head around: we have a benefits system with enough acronyms, assessments, taper rates and tax credits to make your head spin. That’s why this Government is finally undertaking a hugely important and long-overdue reform of benefits. Universal Credit will replace the complicated mix of tax credits,

Welcome to our daily web review. As always, feel free to share your own recommendations in the comments. Clairwil - The first step to ending poverty is scrapping tax-credits, that most convoluted and expensive waste of resources. The lowest paid shouldn't pay any tax whatsoever. Dave Hill - Some choice cuts from the list of questions

Bill Quango MP asked: Any ideas what the Tories plan to do with tax credits? If its what is required I fear they may face a fine for seriously overfilling their wheelie-bin. To which I replied: Don't forget that Tax Credits is just Family Credit, (which the Tories introduced in 1987, which itself was probably just a replacement for something else), but repackaged with extra complications. The...

As Brown's authority drains away, the tone of discussion about tax credits is changing. Previous years' coverage has focused on the amounts of overpayment and underpayment, with assurances that things were targeted to improve. A junior treasury minister with nominal responsibility for the mess would be wheeled out to explain how things really were going to get better, while Chancellor Brown - the ...