income gone up....tax credits...what do i do?

debbiejones

I am getting myself in a muddle and could do with some help before i go mad. I am a single mum with three kids. Am working 16 hrs as from april, new job. Last years 2007 -2008 i earned £4898. This year i am earning more because i work weekends and had no idea how much more i would be earning. I get child tax credit and working tax credits. I anticipate to earn £7572 going by the past 5 months wage slips. My question is do i need to ring the tco to inform them that i am expected to earn more? If so do i do it as and when i reach over £4898 on my payslips. or do i wait until renewal time. I do not want to be paying back overpayments as i am on a strict budget. Also i want to know what i am expecting to get in tax credits from next year given my income will be bit higher. It is estimated to be a difference of £2674. Please help anyone...

[Deleted User]

Tell TCO now that you are going to earn more this year. They wont reduce your 08/09 award as you are allowed to earns up to £25,000 more than you did last year without you being overpaid or lowering your tax credits.

They will use the estimate you give them for this year's income to work out your tax credits from 6th April 2009.

Auzelia

Hiya

sorry to invade your post ,
But I was told that you had a bumper of earning £25k over your last P60 amount and not to call up tax credits before the start of the new tax year. As if you declare a higher amount to what you earned last tax year and you still earn more than that , then you cannot use your bumper as you have already increased your income ....

I am earning less this tax year but have not told them, I know I can get more if I where to reduce my income with them but I am scared of getting an overpayment.

Would rather get it backdated when I give my new P60 amount.

or did I just catch the wrong end of the stick?

[Deleted User]

Auzelia wrote: »

Hiya

sorry to invade your post ,
But I was told that you had a bumper of earning £25k over your last P60 amount and not to call up tax credits before the start of the new tax year. As if you declare a higher amount to what you earned last tax year and you still earn more than that , then you cannot use your bumper as you have already increased your income ....

I am earning less this tax year but have not told them, I know I can get more if I where to reduce my income with them but I am scared of getting an overpayment.

Would rather get it backdated when I give my new P60 amount.

or did I just catch the wrong end of the stick?

If you estimate a higher amount for this year compared to last year's income it shouldnt cause an overpayment - unless you exceed the £25k 'buffer'.

It is only if you give a lower estimate, then earn more than that, that causes overpayments.

If you are going to earn less than last year and you can cope without the increase in tax credits, you are best to wait until the end of the year to declare your income - just incase you have a slightly better income than you thought.

debbiejones

Hi, i did ring the tco and she said i had done the right thing by telling them that my income would be likely to be higher. She said my tax credits will not change till april as it is worked from last years wages but when they calculate how much tax credits from april at least it will be the figure that i anticipate so i won't have been paid too many tax crdits and end up paying them back.

Yes i could have waited till when they send the forms out but i felt more comfortable doing it this way.

skylight

https://www.entitledto.co.uk

Try there and play around with the figures for this year/last year to give you an idea of ctc you may get next year. Its not foolproof, but will help to sort out a budget before you get the next award notice.

Cybachiq

I used that www.entitledto.com site just out of curiosity as I was told this morning that I was no longer entitled to IS as my earnings were £6.14 more than my total IS.

Wages from new job = £72.05
£20 lone parent disregarded = £52.05 (A)
Income Support = £45.91 (B)
(B) - (A) = £-6.14.

I phoned up the Jobcentre this morning to report my change of circumstances and, as I said earlier, the lady on the phone told me that I was earning too much to get any IS. So, now it seems I am in a grey area: not working enough hours to qualify for WTC (I only worked 11 hours this week) but earning too much to receive IS.
Has anyone else had this happen to them? I have asked my employer if I can reduce my hours by a couple, thus meaning I earn under £45.91 and therefore still entitling me to IS. I am still waiting to hear back.
Does anyone know if this mere £6.14 that I am over by will affect my Housing Benefit at all? Reading the above posts I can see that it won't affect my CTC, which is a relief. Hopefully I won't earn so much this week so I will then be entitled to IS again. This messes everything up for me as I have just declared myself bankrupt and put down on the forms that I was unemployed claiming IS (I filed for BR on Friday just gone and my job started that weekend). I am hoping that it will be okay to wait to tell the OR about my change of circumstances until it has all sorted itself out and I can give her a definite list of what I have coming in as at the moment I am not sure. I used the aforementioned website with my details and it said that I should still be entitled to £18.75 IS, even with my £72.05 wages. I don't know who to believe - the lady I spoke to this morning from the jobcentre or this website. People on this site seem to hold it in quite high regard, so I am confused!!

shelovestobuystuff

Cybachiq wrote: »

I used that www.entitledto.com site just out of curiosity as I was told this morning that I was no longer entitled to IS as my earnings were £6.14 more than my total IS.

Wages from new job = £72.05
£20 lone parent disregarded = £52.05 (A)
Income Support = £45.91 (B)
(B) - (A) = £-6.14.

I phoned up the Jobcentre this morning to report my change of circumstances and, as I said earlier, the lady on the phone told me that I was earning too much to get any IS. So, now it seems I am in a grey area: not working enough hours to qualify for WTC (I only worked 11 hours this week) but earning too much to receive IS.
Has anyone else had this happen to them? I have asked my employer if I can reduce my hours by a couple, thus meaning I earn under £45.91 and therefore still entitling me to IS. I am still waiting to hear back.
Does anyone know if this mere £6.14 that I am over by will affect my Housing Benefit at all? Reading the above posts I can see that it won't affect my CTC, which is a relief. Hopefully I won't earn so much this week so I will then be entitled to IS again. This messes everything up for me as I have just declared myself bankrupt and put down on the forms that I was unemployed claiming IS (I filed for BR on Friday just gone and my job started that weekend). I am hoping that it will be okay to wait to tell the OR about my change of circumstances until it has all sorted itself out and I can give her a definite list of what I have coming in as at the moment I am not sure. I used the aforementioned website with my details and it said that I should still be entitled to £18.75 IS, even with my £72.05 wages. I don't know who to believe - the lady I spoke to this morning from the jobcentre or this website. People on this site seem to hold it in quite high regard, so I am confused!!

I am sure they take your earnings average over a few weeks so earning £6.14 extra just for 1 week wont affect your benefit.From your post I understand that this weeks wage is not your new wage but that you just worked a little bit more this week than you expected to and will probably work less hours next week,make sure you tell the benefits office that it was a one off.
Couldn't just make your hours up to 16 every week to qualify for WTC instead?

Cybachiq

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

Couldn't just make your hours up to 16 every week to qualify for WTC instead?

I'd love to as I'd be loads better off on WTC - the trouble is, I work in a nightclub which is only open on Fri/Sat nights and there's no other hours available. I'm currently waiting to hear back from my employer to see if I can do a couple of hours less each weekend which would then mean that I'd not be over the limit, if you see what I mean.
Yes, it is a one-off; the club opened up the weekend just gone and I was needed (since I worked there before it closed down and was refurbished) to help train the new staff who've never worked in a club before. I'm meant to be doing another 11 hours this weekend, which means getting paid another £72.05, but this will mess up my benefits for a 2nd week, so hopefully my employer will let me finish early on both nights, thus solving the benefits problem.

[Deleted User]

Could you not get another job through the week for 5 hours?

As long as you are working 16 hours it doesnt matter how many jobs you work, you would still be able to apply for WTC.

Cybachiq

I'd love to, but there's nothing around that I can fit around my son. I live in a small town where jobs are pretty scarce. I am registered with an employment agency in the hope that I might be able to find 12 hours work somewhere, but it needs to be regular because of my benefits.