Confused - Are we a couple

kb92830

I'm sure I will get flamed for this but confused as to who is right.

3 months ago I was offered a position in Switzerland which I have taken. As a requirement I have had to register as a swiss resident and give up my UK residency. As a result I have informed the tax office etc, I also informed the tax credits team who said that as I was no longer a UK resident the joint claim for my Girlfriend and I had to be cancelled and she would have to make a single claim. Given she has no income but I still support her we questioned this but the answer was that any money I pay would be seen as a maintenance payment and thus ignored as income. We were informed that under the tax credit legislation that as I had been absent from the UK in excess of 12 weeks and I have no plans to become a UK resident again that we are no longer view by law as a couple.

They also followed up with her and have stated that she is also potentially entitled to income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit, however the job centre are saying they still see us as a couple and therefore she cannot claim as a single and it would have to be a joint claim, but I cant be on the claim as I am not resident in the UK.

In terms of us, we are not married, we do not have joint bank accounts and because she doesn'twork I have always paid the bills. The only link between us in a joint mortgage which cannot be changed as she doesn't earn. I spend about 3 or 4 nights back at the property with her per month but other than that we live completely seperate lives, I have a permanent address in Switzerland do my own washing etc and obvioulsy we do not eat together etc.

So who is right, Tax credit staff or the Job centre, looking at the definitions we do not live together, yes I support her but then any absent father would have to under current legislation. T o be honest I just don't want to fall foul of the law but with tax credits you cant opt out so its not even a case of ignoring them or cancelling the claim.

tea690

reading it id say you were not a couple as you wont be living with her...as long as she declares any payments you make to her she should be okay to claim as single..i may be wrong though

AnxiousMum

See I read it as you are a couple, just living apart due to work commitments, much like a member of the armed forces who may be stationed outside of the UK. You still own a home here, you still return home for visits. You support her financially, and are only not together due to your work locationI don't understand about you giving up your UK residency though - are you a British Citizen or have you given up your 'indefinite leave to remain' in the country? Many people can possibly try to claim not a couple if working away from home.

Important question for you and/or your girlfriend - do YOU both see you as a couple?

kb92830

Yes I still see her as my girlfriend and she sees me as her boyfriend. However service personnel and crown employees are treated differently, as I said the tax credit legislation states that when you are absent from the country for a period in excess of 12 weeks then you can no longer be part of a claim. Seems wrong to me but they are saying that is the law.

In terms of working away from home, yes I do but I dont plan to return to the UK, I am nnot registered for tax or national insurance any longer, I am not entitled to NHS care and I am not registered for council tax, therefore even though I am a UK citizen by birth I have chosen to live in Switzerland for residency purposes and do not have dual residency.

I believe they see us as legally seperated due to the definition by law, and the statement states 'you are not seen as a couple even though you do not plan to split'

NASA_2

Tax Credits and Social Security benefits use different criteria for living together decisions.

To me they are both right in their own respective areas.

dmg24

Assuming you are able to support her from your income, is the question really relevant? Surely you would not claim if you have sufficient income anyway?

kb92830

dmg24,

I can understand your question but why wouldn't you claim something you are legally entitled too, I'm sure there are many parents that claim child benefit but have no need to, or people who retire that still take the state pension when they have a sufficiently big enough personal provision.

When I said it seems wrong I referred to being entitled to it, not from a moral highground. At the end of the day the welfare state is a complex system of rules, I did not write them, I paid my dues over the years as mandated by the law so if I become entitled by law why would I not claim?

I was purely looking for clarification of what defines a couple as there seems to be discrepancies between the different agencies.

tinkerbell28

I'd say you were not a couple, you're right as in Crown employees are treated differently, they are still UK citizens, working on behalf of the UK abroad so are still a couple even if they are on det for 6 months +.

dmg24

kb92830 wrote: »

dmg24,

I can understand your question but why wouldn't you claim something you are legally entitled too, I'm sure there are many parents that claim child benefit but have no need to, or people who retire that still take the state pension when they have a sufficiently big enough personal provision.

When I said it seems wrong I referred to being entitled to it, not from a moral highground. At the end of the day the welfare state is a complex system of rules, I did not write them, I paid my dues over the years as mandated by the law so if I become entitled by law why would I not claim?

I was purely looking for clarification of what defines a couple as there seems to be discrepancies between the different agencies.

So you do have sufficient income but you think you should claim as well, just because you can?

I could rack up £20,000 of credit card debts and then get them written off. Should I?

G51shopaholic

from a DSS point of view you still contributed to the Household income so you'd be treated as a couple.
This is the same rule applied to Tax Credits, but the 12 week rule gets you on that. but you are a couple.

kb92830

dmg24,

That is a totally different situation, if you knowingly accumulate debt which you know you cant pay back then that is a personal choice, and in my opinion should be classed as fraud (although it would be fair to have some responsibilty attributed to the lender). In this case if I am legally entitled to it then there is no reason why I shouldn't claim. Everybody thinks child benefit is a right so why is any other benefit different, I just dont see why the line is drawn where it is in some peoples eyes.

At the end of the day even Martin Lewis has the mantra, 'if your entitled to it claim it', isn't that why the whole bank charge reclaiming movement came about. The purpose of sites like this is to inform people of their choices and entitlements so I find it slightly surprising that supporters of the site and forums take the stand they do on some of the issues. If I am not entitled I will not claim, but if I am I will.