Taper Rate
The rate at which benefits are withdrawn when a claimant has earned income above the level of the applicable amount. If a taper rate is 20%, for every £1 additional income earned, support reduces by 20p. The lower the percentage rate, the more generous the scheme. Taper rates are applied so that people feel the benefit of work and avoid the risk of being worse off when starting work, which could be the case if there was no taper and benefits were withdrawn pound for pound. A taper rate applies for most earned income, but there is an exception in some cases where a Work Allowance applies.