article_snippet: It's the tax that hits you every day.
article_snippet: And It hits pensioners and the poorest hardest.'
article_snippet: Mr Balls said the unannounced rise from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent after the 2010 election had cost families an average £1,800 over four years.
article_snippet: Treasury figures suggested a rise to 22.5% would cost a family with children an average of GBP450 a year and a pensioner couple GBP275 a year, Treasury said - something a Labour administration would not allow.