lost when it comes to tax credits

kymbo82

Am I right in thinking we receive tax credits for the previous tax year? When we applied august 09 we were asked for work details from apr 08- apr 09 when I wasnt working and dp was on a lower wage...they knew that I had started work in the august(when we applied) but not in the tax yr they wanted to know about.
It confuses me why they base it on the previous year? Since then(apr 08-09) dp has had a pay rise I will tell them in the renewal form but Im worried we have been over payed now even though he didnt get the pay rise in the year they orginally asked for, which is what our tax credits for now are based on.
Sorry if im not making sense? Should I be telling them immediatly about these changes or only in renewal forms?

Thanks for any help

dizzyblonde82

On your tax credit award notice it tells you when you have to inform them about a change in income, it will say something like 'if your income goes above xxxx then you need to inform us'

There is an income disregard as well so unless your income has gone up by £25,000 then you wont receive an overpayment.

kymbo82

thank you for your reply, I have read over it now and can see the changes I need to report, thanks