In his last Budget as the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2007, Gordon Brown abolished the 10p starting rate of income tax. This was to prove to be a controversial move and one that was of significance for income maintenance policy. This article focuses on this significance by examining the competing economic, political and social objectives that framed the abolition of the 10p tax band, the messages that its abolition sent to low paid childless workers and the impacts of its abolition.