Tax Credit Advice - Maternity pay

Pearcy45

Hi,

My wife and I are expecting our first child in October 06. Both of us work, however because my wife started a new job, just as she found out she was preganant, we are not sure what we are entitled to.. I believe at the moment she can only claim £106 statutory maternity pay per week.

I was wondering what tax credits would be due to us as I will be the sole earner.

Can anyone help?

Thanks.

Toninho

You'll only need to declare the SMP over £100/week (£6/week in your case), so, your Tax Credits would depend on your income and if you already have a child/children.. If the household income is below £15,600 you can claim WTC as well as CTC (providing you already have a child/children). if you don't already have kids you can still claim WTC and then when your child is born add it to your claim (which can be done over the phone) and you'll get CTC as well.

Ring the helpline and ask for an estimate based on your circumstances and you'll get a 'guideline' figure anyway.

jyonda

Your wifes new employer should let her know what they will give her (provided she is staff and not freelance) but I would imagine it would be no more than the statutory amount you mentioned. The tax credits for our first child were about 80-90 a month for the first year then went down to about 60 a month because they give you more for a newborn. Seems to me they get MORE expensive as they get older but that's tax credits for you. It will depend on your combined income and the amount you spend on childcare.