Can my girlfriend claim for tax credits?

marshy27

My girlfriend has just had her hours reduced at work and has been advised to apply for working tax and child tax credits but she's stuck on the partner bit of the form. When filling in the tax credits application form it basically says do you have a partner who you are married to or live together as if you are married to them.

I currently live with my girlfriends mother as me and the girlfriend cant get on living together and get on much better if i dont stay down there too much. We also have a 4 year old daughter together.

This is my routine throughout the week:-

Saturday morning:- I work nights so i finish work after the friday shift then go to my girlfriends straight from work and stay there over the weekend until monday. She usually works on a saturday, so i take her and pick her up when she finishes.

Sunday:- At hers

Monday morning:- I take her shopping as she dont drive and there are no buses in her area, then stay at hers throughout the day and go to work in the evening. I dont pay anything towards her shopping i just give her a lift there.

Tuesday:- Dont go down there but she walks up so i can take her to work, then me and my daughter go up mine until she finishes work, then i pick her up then drop them both off at her house.

Wednesday:- i usually pop down to see her for a couple of hours before work.

Thursday:- Same as tuesday

Friday:- Same as tuesday

Sometimes we might go out for the day as a family on the weekend or go out for food. Basically do normal family stuff.

Now, i dont shower there, wash my clothes, iron my clothes, sleep there (apart from saturday and sunday), or pay anything towards her shopping or any other bills she has at her place. I work nights, so sleep at home when i get home, then stay at hers on the weekend and thats it. The only time im at hers is from early hours saturday morning till monday night then for about 4 hours on a wednesday.

So based on my routine, would you say we're living together as a couple? Personally i dont think we can be classed as living together as a couple as i dont live there. I really dont want to move back in with her as we argue to much. By us living seperate, we enjoy eachothers company more.


Would she be able to claim as living single? I know we're a couple but we're not married or living together couple?

What do you think?

Kaleidoscope27

It'll be classed as living apart. You just visit. Unless your name is on the tenancy agreement / mortgage, you don't live there. So she can claim as being single. (If your name IS on any paperwork with hers (e.g. a joint tenancy agreement) and she uses it to prove her living arrangements, it'll be classed as you both living there. Just so you know.)

dmg24

Kaleidoscope27 wrote: »

It'll be classed as living apart. You just visit. Unless your name is on the tenancy agreement / mortgage, you don't live there. So she can claim as being single. (If your name IS on any paperwork with hers (e.g. a joint tenancy agreement) and she uses it to prove her living arrangements, it'll be classed as you both living there. Just so you know.)

Nonsense, it is not nearly as simple as that. HMRC/ the DWP will look at many factors to determine whether you are living together, and a name on a tenancy agreement is only a very small part of that.

OP, your situation is far from clear cut. You need to contact HMRC and ask them to decide whether you are seen as living together or not.

bestpud

Do you pay rent to her mother?

I agree you need to contact them and ask, as it's far too complex for anyone on here to guess the outcome.

karenx

Do you even give her any maintenance? And also you take her shopping but dont pay for anything? So does that mean you let your girlfriend pay for absolutly everything for your daughter??
I think she should be claiming as a couple, as you are a couple afterall. Even though you dont live together you still spend most the week together and do things together also.
So she should tell tax credits asap so you can get added to her claim. And your income will be taken into account.
Also if she gets housing benefit she will need to give them a copy of her updated tax credits award and get her benefit adjusted.

marshy27

bestpud wrote: »

Do you pay rent to her mother?

I agree you need to contact them and ask, as it's far too complex for anyone on here to guess the outcome.

I dont pay rent directly to her but i do pay her council tax for her each month by direct debit out of my bank account as she prefers it that way.

karenx wrote: »

Do you even give her any maintenance? And also you take her shopping but dont pay for anything? So does that mean you let your girlfriend pay for absolutly everything for your daughter??
I think she should be claiming as a couple, as you are a couple afterall. Even though you dont live together you still spend most the week together and do things together also.
So she should tell tax credits asap so you can get added to her claim. And your income will be taken into account.
Also if she gets housing benefit she will need to give them a copy of her updated tax credits award and get her benefit adjusted.

Yes, i give her £55 a week for our daughter which is put into her bank every friday by bank transfer so that she cant say i give nothing for her and then we take in turns who buys clothes for her when needed. Also yea i do take her shopping but dont pay for anything, i simply buy my food and then she buys hers.

As for the highlighted part, yes we are a couple but we're not living together. On the application form it says 'couple' means someone you're living with as if you are married to them, but we dont live like that. This is really confusing.

So it it correct that if you're on benefits your basically not allowed to have a boyfriend/girlfriend stay over on the weekends and visit you during the week without being classed as living together as a couple?

Indie_Kid

marshy27 wrote: »

So it it correct that if you're on benefits your basically not allowed to have a boyfriend/girlfriend without being classed as living together as a couple?

It depends if you're living togetehr as man and wife - ie, eat together, bills in joint names, etc.

marshy27

sh1305 wrote: »

It depends if you're living togetehr as man and wife - ie, eat together, bills in joint names, etc.

What if i eat there just on the weekend? No bills in joint name as i dont live there. The only time im really there is between saturday and monday and roughly 4 hours on a wednesday and thats it.

Is me taking her to work contributing to her household as she wont be able to earn the money if i couldnt take her?

Pepzofio

tbh it doesn't sound to me like you would be classed as living together as a couple based on the routine you have described above, but it would be much safer for her to discuss it with Tax Credits and ask them for guidance. I'm not sure how they record things but I'm sure she could ask them to record the query on her 'file' (so that they can't come back and accuse her of misleading them in the future).

FWIW, when I first claimed my partner and I were both living with our respective parents while we saved to move in together, although we spent pretty much every night together at one or other of the houses. I was told by Tax Credits that as we alternated between properties (spending roughly half the time at each) we would not be classed as a couple and I had to claim as an individual.

AnxiousMum

You say you spend the weekends doing 'family stuff'.......by that comment alone, you appear to consider yourselves a family. My first impressions reading it is that you are indeed a family, and for reasons seen to be proper by yourselves, you choose to live apart - just as someone who is a family, but has a long commute to work so lives elsewhere during the week. But you by your own wording have classed yourself as a 'family'. Definitely one to put to the decision makers to see how they classify it!

marshy27

AnxiousMum wrote: »

You say you spend the weekends doing 'family stuff'.......by that comment alone, you appear to consider yourselves a family. My first impressions reading it is that you are indeed a family, and for reasons seen to be proper by yourselves, you choose to live apart - just as someone who is a family, but has a long commute to work so lives elsewhere during the week. But you by your own wording have classed yourself as a 'family'. Definitely one to put to the decision makers to see how they classify it!

The problem is i dont want to be 'forced' to move in with her again as it'll put strain on our relationship and a few months down the line we'll end up splitting up again. Forced seems harsh but that what seems like is going to happen. Im going to end up being either forced to move in to provide for her as she wont be able to afford to live without the extra benefits and there wont be no point me paying to live up her mums. Or the other solution is to not go there at all which to me seems quite unfair.