PDF Parents' Guide To Student Finance 2009/10 Discussion

Savvy_Sue

Thanks for prompt response.

Lokolo wrote: »

2. Any taxable income, so savings interests etc.

It was more the allowable deductions I was interested in: can I take off pension contributions we've made? I think we had to show our pension stuff to the LEA last year, and it was Gift Aided payments we'd made they didn't want to know about.

Maybe I should get him to find last year's forms ...

Lokolo wrote: »

3. The year he is applying for.

Sorry, he first applied last year, and I think we were assessed on 2007-08 income then, but not sure if continuing students have been ported to the new fiasco, or are still on the old one, and whether that means it's our 2008-09 income that's used, for which we do have the figures!

NOT looking forward to doing this for DS3, but at least it's the last time I'll have to!

student_advisor

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

1. Does DS3 get taken into account in considering our income?

There should be a deduction for him as a dependant, worth a grand or 2 - can't remember off the top of my head, or find it in the regs

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

2. What else gets taken into account in considering our income? (I know it's different to tax credits, for example, where pension payments and Gift Aided payments can be deducted).

income from investment, interest on savings (but not ISAs), any other taxable income (i.e. rental income).
Deductions are made for AVCs and private (but not company) pension payments (ones which get you tax relief), your personal tax-free allowance is also deducted.

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

3. As a continuing student, which tax year is our income assessed on? 07-08 or 08-09?

07/08 - all assessments for the academic year 09/10 will be based on the 07/08 tax year in the first instance (if income in 2009/10 will be lower, you can ask for an in-year assessment).

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

4. Having taken all the above into account, what's the highest income we can have for DS2 to get any loan?

If your residual income (whatever's left) is below £60,032, your son will receive at least £50 grant and additional loan. If your household income is below £75,057, your son will get additional loan.

NB. These figures only apply because your son started last year & will not apply to new starts. or students who started earlier

Lokolo

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Sorry, he first applied last year, and I think we were assessed on 2007-08 income then, but not sure if continuing students have been ported to the new fiasco, or are still on the old one, and whether that means it's our 2008-09 income that's used, for which we do have the figures!

NOT looking forward to doing this for DS3, but at least it's the last time I'll have to!

Sorry I thought you meant the loans and grants limit, which change from year to year.

SA has told you everything though

But yeh the £50 and 60k limit wrong for mine. (I started a while back so mines completely different!)

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@educ/documents/digitalasset/dg_174587.pdf

Theres a guide for the year thats just gone.

Savvy_Sue

Thanks both.

DS2 doesn't think it's worth the effort for £50 (and I tend to agree with him!) but for just over £500 it is.

I think he's already got his notification through on a non-income assessed basis but he'll give it a whirl.

Taiko

Your 2nd son would be classed as the £60,000 threshold because of when he began the course. Any calculated contribution affects their maintenance loan entitlement, so it's always worth doing if you have more than one child at university.

Savvy_Sue

No, only one now at Uni (the eldest just finished).

Thanks for all your help, will get DS2 onto changing his assessment ASAP!

cactuskaz

This probably isnt the place to post but i cant contact student finance, they constantly say phone back later the lines are busy but it dosnt matter what time you ring its the same message for days now.Iv tried to find an email address and failed, i only want to know if they have recieved my daughters application forms as she made the mistake of asking someone to take them to the post office for her and we,ve just realised they havent put the correct postage on it.My p60s are in it and i dont know if its been delivered or stuck in the postal system. I feel like we,ve been abandoned at a time when we need to know whats going on.

Savvy_Sue

catuskaz, all I can say is that DS2 has managed it, after several tries.

And I have finally printed the forms off and started trying to fill them in. Only then I realised they want my 2007-08 information, and I'd carefully kept all my 2008-09 info handy from my latest tax credits checkup.

However, it would help if you chaps would clear a couple of points up for me before I start trawling heaps of paper ...

1. I've managed to find my unique customer reference number in an ancient email, but doubt DH will be able to find his - will that matter?
2. In Section 2, income, note 2a says:
   Please do not include any of the following as part of your gross taxable income:
   • any personal relief;
   • payments under covenant; or
   • non-taxable income.
   For a moment I wondered if that bold bit meant I could deduct the payments I've made under Gift Aid, but I'm guessing not - I was told I couldn't last year even though you can for CTC. So what are 'personal relief' and 'payments under covenant'?
   
3. And still in Section 2, note 2m says:
   Do not include any regular payments you are making towards a retirement pension provided by your employer.
   So both DH and I make regular pension payments through our employer, but they're both Stakeholder pensions, so do I put them down in that section or not? Can't see where else to put them, and I'm sure I'm allowed to ...
4. And finally, in Section 3, I'm supposed to give DS3's details, including income. I've put him in section b because he's in the 6th form, and note 3a says:
   You should provide the child dependant’s income for the academic year. The academic year is determined by when the student begins their study.
   There is no note 3b, so do I have to give his income from his cinema job? Or only if he's not studying? And is that the academic year that's just started (for him), for which I'd have to guesstimate, or is it last academic year, for which a big fat ZERO would be the thing?
   

That's all I wanted to ask. I really hope this ends up being worth more than £50 to DS2. It has quite overshadowed the joy of never having to buy school uniform ever again! :rotfl:

Although one final point: it says if your income is lower this year than in 2007-08, you can do a current year claim. Why can't I do a 2008-09 claim? has it always been a year in arrears like this? If it's not, the figures haven't changed from last year, when he first applied! :mad:

Oldernotwiser

I believe that "payments under covenant" are payments that you have to make, whereas Gift Aid payments can be stopped at any time.

Savvy_Sue

That would make sense.

Still struggling with the rest of it, and the more I think about it, the more frustrated I get.

I'm almost sure that last year, the assessment year was 2007-08, as it is this year, which means whatever I put on last year's form would be right. But stupidly, I think I gave my copy of the form to one of the boys, and told them to look after it, because it mattered to THEM not ME, and guess what?

Ho hum ...