Paying back tax credits, now expecting again

foolishqueen

Hello All,

As the title suggests, we are paying back overpaid tax credits and at the minute recieve no tax credit payments - it is being used to reduce the amount of the overpayment.

However, my partner is nw expecting again. I assume tax creidts would normally go up again (if I remember correctly from a few years ago!). My question is, would any increase simply be swallowed up in repaying the original overpayment?

I've had a look on the HMRC site but can't find any definitive answers, and I got sick of waiting in the phone queue for someone to speak to.

Thanks.

[Deleted User]

It depends on your income. If they are reducing 100% of your award to pay off the overpayment it suggests that you are only entitled to the basic family element of £547.50 which is the same regardless of how many children you have.

If your income is low enough that your CTC entitlement increases above the basic element you will find that instead of the award being reduced by 100% it is only reduced by 25%. This will mean that you will start receiving payments again but it will take longer for the overpayment to be cleared.

kurjam

does this mean if you have children you should only ger £547 a year ??
as i have 4 children and get more than this per year

cw18

if you're on a low income (or means tested benefits) you will get a higher rate of CTC

but there is a huge army of families who only receive the basic £547, regardless of the number of children -- though this is double (for all families) when the youngest child is under the age of 1

and families with higher incomes get less than £547 as it tapers off - and reaches zero at around a household taxable income of £58k a year.

foolishqueen

To be honest I don't know what we get now, think it would be about £40 per month, so that figure of £547 sounds about right. But as cw18 points out, the amount you get when your child is under 1 is higher. I am assuming then that any increase would just be taken towards the overpayment!?

We are not considered to be on a low income btw.

Thanks.