going part-time - CTC increasing

Snappy_2

Hi, my first post here and I'm looking for some advice. Mrs S and I have agreed that I should go part-time to help look after our son and also so that I can do some distance learning.

We will both still be working over 16hrs a week, and we have 4 children. I entered our new (lower) income details into the HMRC tax credits website and double-checked it with entitledto.com

Both sites suggest that our CTC will increase from £10 pw to around £110 pw, and I checked this with HMRC Tax Credits helpline who confirmed this.

My question is: will the Tax Credits people think that I am reducing my income just to get extra tax credits (ie income deprivation)? I did phone them about it and chatted it over with them, and they said that it wouldn't be an issue because of the reasons why I'm going part-time, but I thought that I'd ask the question here as well in case someone has had a similar experience or can give me advice on this.

Auzelia

Im not sure, no one at tax office ever queried why I changed jobs and dropped from 30 + hours to 16 hours.

[Deleted User]

Simple answer is - they don't care.

Tax Credits is not technically a benefit, it is an entitlement so you don't need to justify your reasons for reducing your hours.

Snappy_2

Thanks for the replys. I had read on the CTC manual that if someone deprives themselves of an income in order to gain extra tax credits then HMRC would treat this as having the income.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/tctm04803.htm

I just wanted some reassurance that me working less hours (and hence having less income) doesn't fall into the category of income deprivation since I would start receiving extra tax credits. I guess that HMRC have already asnwered this for me, but it would be good to hear from someone in the same situation.

[Deleted User]

The deprivation of income is more about avoiding ways of declaring income so no need to worry.