Tax Credits Renewals - 2014

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  • Giraffe29
    Giraffe29 Posts: 1 Newbie
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    Hi all. I have yet to receive my renewal pack but I received my NHS exemption card a few weeks ago and a revised Housing Benefit award due to 'tax credit amendments, as informed by DWP' last week.
    The amounts on my new HB award for TC differ to the provisional payments I have been on since April. Has anyone else had this & if so, did it turn out you had been automatically renewed? If I don't hear anything by June 30th, I will obviously call them, just wondered if anyone had any ideas?
    Thanks in advance for any advice given :)
  • georgiasdragons
    georgiasdragons Posts: 656 Forumite
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    My renewal has arrived that was dates 27th May.
    :T
    It is an auto renewal which is why my payments changed as they have updated with my slightly higher salary.
    It says to ring with if my expected salary for next year is lower or higher than the figures they have given me.


    It says my tax credits will be updated 31st July if no changed are reported?
  • IPIP
    IPIP Posts: 57 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    I finally got through to them after waiting 22min. I noticed others have said they waited the same which kind of makes it the average waiting time.

    I did my renewals over the phone and everything went well.

    Good luck all :beer:
  • melsharpshooter
    melsharpshooter Posts: 34 Forumite
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    I have received my tax credits renewal and my boyfriends income is £20,000 more than actual amount. Tax credits have said we need to contact the tax office to find out why, as the tax credits get the amount off them. Does anyone know what number we would ring please.
  • galleon
    galleon Posts: 5 Forumite
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    I phoned saturday, took 10 mns to get through, my renewal was posted out
    4th June, they said it would take 2 weeks approx. I just get working tax credit and they said it was an automatic renewal. the lady was really helpful and also allowed me to update details regard becoming self employed recently as well as being employed and increasing hours. They said it had all gone through fine and I would receive a new award notice. She said I still need to check the renewal notice when I get it though.
  • janey70
    janey70 Posts: 291 Forumite
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    Giraffe29 wrote: »
    Hi all. I have yet to receive my renewal pack but I received my NHS exemption card a few weeks ago and a revised Housing Benefit award due to 'tax credit amendments, as informed by DWP' last week.
    The amounts on my new HB award for TC differ to the provisional payments I have been on since April. Has anyone else had this & if so, did it turn out you had been automatically renewed? If I don't hear anything by June 30th, I will obviously call them, just wondered if anyone had any ideas?
    Thanks in advance for any advice given :)

    Giraffe ive had everything but my renewals letter had my nhs exemption card wees ago ,had a housing benefits award notice which has been amended and a council tax one plus a extra payment from wtc slightly lower than normal so im assuming they've sorted mine out automaticly but if i havnt heard anything by end of month will ring again :cool:
  • gneesome
    gneesome Posts: 6 Forumite
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    Hi
    I have just filled in my tax credits form and it had a section in the working sheet regarding taking off deductions for pension payments.
    It says this...
    "Gift Aid payments and personal pension contributions you paid into a registered scheme. Include Free-Standing Additional Voluntary Contributions and payments to Stakeholder pensions. Enter the gross amount. Don't include anything you paid into an occupational pension scheme (where your employer took the pension contributions from your pay before deduction tax)"


    Now I pay into an occupational scheme through my employer(group personal pension) that is taken from my taxable pay after tax and national insurance contributions (NOT salary sacrifice where this is subtracted from gross pay before tax).


    However, I was contacted by tax credits to query the difference between my P60 gross pay figure and what was on the tax credits form. They told me that I could not include my pension payments (they appear on my payslip but not P60).


    The reason they used was that I was paying my pension via my employer and it was an occupational scheme.


    They said that if I had paid my pension by making a free standing contribution then I could claim.


    I said that does not make any sense as it's the same thing!
    If my employer just gave me the money in my pay packet and I made a free standing contribution that would be OK...They confirmed that as correct.....


    Is this really correct, as I could find no mention of this anywhere on HMRC or the tax credits web site.
    on the web sites it says this :-
    tax credits claim. If you made personal pension or retirement annuity
    contributions, Gift Aid payments or a trading loss, please see TC825 ‘Working
    sheet for tax credits relief for Gift Aid donations, pension contributions and
    trading losses’
    You should not normally deduct any contributions to an occupational
    pension scheme or payments under a payroll giving or Give As You Earn
    (GAYE) scheme. This is because your employer will have already deducted
    these payments from your gross pay.

    TC825 document
    If you used the ‘Earnings as an employee’ working sheet in the notes sent with
    your tax credits claim form or Renewals Pack, you may already have deducted
    any personal pension contributions you paid direct (for example, Free-Standing
    Additional Voluntary Contributions or payments to stakeholder pensions) from your
    employment earnings.
    Deduct the gross amount of any:
    • qualifying Gift Aid donations
    • personal pension or retirement annuity contributions
    • banking charge or commission paid for converting into sterling a payment of
    income which is made in a currency other than sterling

    I actually rang the tax credits office a year ago and I was told that any pension contributions I made could be included (if they were not already subtracted from my gross pay)...but now I am being told something different...now a year has passed.


    Any advice on how I proceed next would be greatly appreciated as I think I can claim and they are telling me I can't.


    Thanks
    Gary
  • Flump75
    Flump75 Posts: 16 Forumite
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    I am in the same position. You cannot deduct an employer pension as this is done automatically as you do not pay tax so the taxable pay on your payslip and your P60 figure has already deducted this amount. If you pay into your own then this would not be shown on your P60 and so you have to deduct it yourself. The figure you give tax credits from your P60 have taken this off already so this amount is not actually used for tax credit purposes . Hope this helps as I don't think I've explained it very well :)
  • gneesome
    gneesome Posts: 6 Forumite
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    Hi
    Thanks for your reply.
    I looked at my p60 and it is showing my total taxable pay including my pension payment as its liable for tax/ni contributions. My pension provider then claims the 20% tax back which is shown in my pension statement. With salary sacrifice the pension payment is taken off before tax so reduces the taxable income but I pay after tax so has to be included in my gross pay.
    Thanks
    Gary
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 20,363 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Chutzpah Haggler
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    gneesome wrote: »
    Hi
    I have just filled in my tax credits form and it had a section in the working sheet regarding taking off deductions for pension payments.
    It says this...
    "Gift Aid payments and personal pension contributions you paid into a registered scheme. Include Free-Standing Additional Voluntary Contributions and payments to Stakeholder pensions. Enter the gross amount. Don't include anything you paid into an occupational pension scheme (where your employer took the pension contributions from your pay before deduction tax)"


    Now I pay into an occupational scheme through my employer(group personal pension) that is taken from my taxable pay after tax and national insurance contributions (NOT salary sacrifice where this is subtracted from gross pay before tax).


    However, I was contacted by tax credits to query the difference between my P60 gross pay figure and what was on the tax credits form. They told me that I could not include my pension payments (they appear on my payslip but not P60).


    The reason they used was that I was paying my pension via my employer and it was an occupational scheme.


    They said that if I had paid my pension by making a free standing contribution then I could claim.


    I said that does not make any sense as it's the same thing!
    If my employer just gave me the money in my pay packet and I made a free standing contribution that would be OK...They confirmed that as correct.....


    Is this really correct, as I could find no mention of this anywhere on HMRC or the tax credits web site.
    on the web sites it says this :-
    tax credits claim. If you made personal pension or retirement annuity
    contributions, Gift Aid payments or a trading loss, please see TC825 ‘Working
    sheet for tax credits relief for Gift Aid donations, pension contributions and
    trading losses’
    You should not normally deduct any contributions to an occupational
    pension scheme or payments under a payroll giving or Give As You Earn
    (GAYE) scheme. This is because your employer will have already deducted
    these payments from your gross pay.

    TC825 document
    If you used the ‘Earnings as an employee’ working sheet in the notes sent with
    your tax credits claim form or Renewals Pack, you may already have deducted
    any personal pension contributions you paid direct (for example, Free-Standing
    Additional Voluntary Contributions or payments to stakeholder pensions) from your
    employment earnings.
    Deduct the gross amount of any:
    • qualifying Gift Aid donations
    • personal pension or retirement annuity contributions
    • banking charge or commission paid for converting into sterling a payment of
    income which is made in a currency other than sterling

    I actually rang the tax credits office a year ago and I was told that any pension contributions I made could be included (if they were not already subtracted from my gross pay)...but now I am being told something different...now a year has passed.


    Any advice on how I proceed next would be greatly appreciated as I think I can claim and they are telling me I can't.


    Thanks
    Gary
    First of all, are you certain the pension contributions are deducted after tax? This is not very common. Even if it's not salary sacrifice, occupational pensions contributions are usually deducted before tax is applied (but after NI).

    You need to check that:

    1) The "gross taxable to date" on your payslip increases from one month to the next by your total pay, not your total pay minus pension contributions.

    2) Your pension statements show that the scheme is claiming tax relief from HMRC. So they get money from your net pay plus money from HMRC tax rebates.

    If the above are both true then you are entitled to deduct the grossed up pension contributions from your P60 income. It can be hard work convincing HMRC that you are allowed to do this, from previous posts a lot of staff aren't clued up enough to get this. You may need to write to them sending copies of your pension statements and payslips to prove your contributions are deducted from net pay.
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