Does my son's wage count towards household income?

uganda

I'm not sure why people are talking about non-dependents in this context. As a young person under 18 no non-dependent deduction would be made in housing benefit, but in any case the OP has only mentioned WTC.

donnajunkie

sh1305 wrote: »

They'd get max LHA for their area.

how come the last time i was in pretty much the same situation as i described we had to pay full rent and council tax? i remember us going to the council benefit office to ask why. i remember asking what if i refused to pay my dad the money from my wages. she just said well we would take your dad to court.

donnajunkie

property.advert wrote: »

I think partner's income counts but not the income children earn. If they paid "board" then that could be included but presumably there would be some offsetting allowance.

I don't think you can include your children's income.

i believe all household income is taken into account. although i guess they could have different rules regarding under 18's. both me and my dad were working from me leaving school to me becoming 18 and beyond.

donnajunkie

sleepless_saver wrote: »

His income definitely doesn't get counted. I had a quick look at the HMRC form instructions and found the following:
"What not to include

Don't include:

• maintenance payments received from a former partner
• tax credit payments
• student loans
• student grants, except the Adult Dependant's Grant
• income your children have had, unless it's taxable in your or your partner's name
• the Christmas Bonus and the Winter Fuel Payment
• income from tax-free savings such as Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs), Personal Equity Plans (PEPs), index-linked and fixed-interest National Savings Certificates, Children's Bonus Bonds war pensions
• pensions or annuities paid to victims of Nazi persecution

If you are unsure whether or not to include income, call the Tax Credit Helpline on Tel 0845 300 3900 or Textphone 0845 300 3909."

i suspect when it says children it means those that are still at school. if your 20 year old son(who lives with you) won the lottery they wouldnt be still paying you hb and ctb would they.

Fire_Fox

I *think* if you take a full time job at 16 and still live at home you are an adult and expected to contribute to the household income, if you are under 16-18 and still in full time college education you are classed as a dependent and not expected to contribute to the household financially. Once you become a university student you are classed as a full adult regardless. I think.

uganda

donnajunkie wrote: »

i suspect when it says children it means those that are still at school. if your 20 year old son(who lives with you) won the lottery they wouldnt be still paying you hb and ctb would they.

You are partly right (although the OP is talking about WTC not HB/CTB) in that children under 18 even if not at school, and any age including adult if a full-time student, have no effect on household income. But you are quite wrong about the lottery win. Even if your adult 'child' is working, non-dependent deductions are a maximum of £47.75pw HB and £6.95pw CTB even if the non-dependent is Bill Gates. And if Mr Gates decided to become a full-time student, there would be no deduction, billionaire or not.

I'm not saying it should be that way, but there it is.

DX2

Another way to look at this if a disabled young adult had a job and worked 16 hours they would be entitled to claim working tax credits in their own right, their parents income isn't included. The parents would inform the tax credit office that their child has left full time education and as such the working tax credits would be adjusted.

donnajunkie

uganda wrote: »

You are partly right (although the OP is talking about WTC not HB/CTB) in that children under 18 even if not at school, and any age including adult if a full-time student, have no effect on household income. But you are quite wrong about the lottery win. Even if your adult 'child' is working, non-dependent deductions are a maximum of £47.75pw HB and £6.95pw CTB even if the non-dependent is Bill Gates. And if Mr Gates decided to become a full-time student, there would be no deduction, billionaire or not.

I'm not saying it should be that way, but there it is.

so we were robbed then?

cidergirl

wetwilts wrote: »

My eldest son (17) is working part time whilst studying and plans to take a gap year next year and work for part and travel for the rest. My husband and I are currently entitled to WTC and I was wondering whether my son's wage should be included as part of household income? He does not contribute towards household bills and his money is paid into his own bank account.

Thanks for any advice

while he is in full time education you can claim for him on your tax credit award and he is able to work 16 hours part time and it will not affect the household income, but when he leaves full time education he will have to either earn his own money or claim his own benefits and will not be included in the familys tax credits but this will not affect your claim for the rest of the family at all whether he pays you housekeeping or not hth

DX2

What counts as income for tax credits purposes?

You must declare all income you receive from employment or self-employment

As far as tax credits are concerned, your income is everything you earn from your employment (whether you work for someone else or yourself) as well as any income you might have from other sources such as taxable social security benefits, pensions and savings income. However, the first £300 of non-earned income is excluded.
You must declare the income before tax and National Insurance are deducted. However, you can deduct any payments you make to a pension and any payments you make to charity through Gift Aid or a payroll-giving scheme from your income before you declare it.
For example, if you earn £25,000 a year and pay £50 a month to a pension, you can declare your salary as £24,400 (£25,000 - £600).
Small amounts of income


You must declare all income you receive from the following sources, no matter how much this is:

• employment
• self-employment
• taxable social security benefits
• student dependent grant
• some miscellaneous income such as business start-up allowance

However, if you receive income of less than £300 during the year from sources other than these you don't have to declare it.
For example, if you have interest from savings of less than £300 in the tax year, it won't count.
The £300 limit is between you if you are claiming as a couple. You don't have to declare income or interest from tax-free savings such as an Isa (either cash Isa or stocks and shares Isa) or any rent you receive through the rent-a-room scheme.
http://www.which.co.uk/advice/tax-credits/what-counts-as-income-for-tax-credits-purposes/index.jsp