Are my tax credits right? Am I overpayed?

mistrey

Last year I only earnt £13,500, as i had a baby and was out of work for a while. My husband was a stay at home dad. This year I have got a much better job and my husband went back to work. This will bring our income up by about £18,000, so in total we will be earning about £31,000 this year.

I told the Tax credits people all about all of these changes.

We have 2 children and our childcare costs are £250 a week, on average over the course of the year. Although in holidays it is £290 a week. I currently receive abour £300 a week in child and working tax credits. I understand from the tax credit helpline that this is right as it works on last years income and that in April it will go down again based on this years income. Recently I posted on DFW board about our debt and people queried the fact that I earnt so much and was still getting tax credits.

Am I being overpaid?? I did tell the tax credit people our situation twice, if i have been overpayed surely it will be their fault and not mine?

Any advice would be great. Thanks

parisjordana

I cant help you on this one but im sure someone will be along who can but £300 a week seems an awful lot....thats £1200 a mth,but i dont know as I dont get them .....someone will help you soon im sure.

alison999

but shes paying out so much in childcare, thats why shes "getting" such a huge amount. its not money in the bank, its money to pay her childminder/nursery. goes straight in and out the bank.

carlos700

alison999 wrote: »

but shes paying out so much in childcare, thats why shes "getting" such a huge amount. its not money in the bank, its money to pay her childminder/nursery. goes straight in and out the bank.

I didnt know you could get help with childcare if you were earning so much (31,000)
I am no expert with childcare or tax credits but i would imagine that next year you will get much less in tax credits ,

parisjordana

alison999 wrote: »

but shes paying out so much in childcare, thats why shes "getting" such a huge amount. its not money in the bank, its money to pay her childminder/nursery. goes straight in and out the bank.

Oh thank you alison for answering that as I said i dont understand them but Im sure someone who does will come along and advise her soon,some people on here actualy work for them so who better to ask than them......

johnpaulpops

It sounds very high to me. When I was married we had some help with really high nursery costs but they wouldn't cover all the costs, just a proportion of these and our incomes at the time weren't very different from yours. HAve you tried using their online calculator?

JP

trevormax

your income this year compared to last year can go up by up to £25,000 before your tax credits are re-calculated. This is a new thing they introduced as so many people were being hit with overpayment letters for getting in year pay rises.

It is likely you will get the family element and child care costs next year. http://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/Qualify/DIQHousehold.aspx this is a link to the HMRC tax credit calculator. You can enter your details for income/child care costs etc and it will tell you what you are entitled to.

alison999

parisjordana wrote: »

Oh thank you alison for answering that as I said i dont understand them but Im sure someone who does will come along and advise her soon,some people on here actualy work for them so who better to ask than them......

our tax credits went up a lot when we renewed last year b/c my o/h income was low, but i know when we renew again that it'll go down significantly. if you can put money aside to help you cope when your payments go down, do.