Help with child tax credits

katrina1979

For the year April09-10 myself and my husband will make approx £23k but my husband has now been made redundent and my hours are getting cut too. We reckon our estimate for the following tax year will be £15k, does anyone know how the tax credits will get worked out for this as obviously this will be alot lower wage to work on than we we were both working f/t:(

karenx

Your tax credits for 10-11 will go on 09-10 income but you can get it done on the 10-11 income but always under-estimate your income so you dont end up with an overpayment. If I were you I would still keep it at the previous years income details. Are you going to be working less than 16 hours per week? If you get help with your childcare that will stop also

katrina1979

Thanks, do you mean i should still put my renewal in saying £20k when i know it will be about £15k? At the moment we get £12p/w, will that just remain in place?

freyamae

I rang them when i had a change in circumstances and they changed the amount the very next day. I lost my job which was around £5000 and the tax credit went up by twenty pound a week which was still £80 less than i earnt but it all helps in the short term. I would give them a call you may be able to get housing/ council tax benefit too something im now looking into.

FIASCO_2

If you have a change in your circumstances, e.g. working hours change and therefore salary amount change then you should call the helpline immediately and give the up to date information. By doing that you will ensure you neither have an under or over payment.

bestpud

You need to tell them your hours have changed and your OH is no longer working - you have four weeks to do so.

The problem with lowering your income is you lose the £25k income disregard, so if you end up earning more than the estimate, you will be accruing an overpayment.

It is better to overestimate your income in case you earn more over the year but you also need to keep a very close eye on your overall income to ensure you let them know straight away if it looks like it may go over. When you let them know they will adjust your award and hopefully avoid you having an overpayment at the end of the year.

I don't think you need to overestimate by as much as £5k though - maybe £1-2k to cover any pay rises and/or overtime...