Child tax credit??

Finsmum

Hi ya hope someone can help me. I have a step daughter and two young children with my husband. We claim ctc and dont qualify for wtc. She stays with us every 2nd weekend and we pay 30 pounds per week (standing order, not csa)for her, plus stuff for trips new shoes when she needs etc. Was just wondering really, that means as far as the tax people are aware we are between 120 and 150 pounds a month better off when we arent. But there is nowhere on the yearly forms or on the online guide to add that we make that payments to her mother.Where do we stand??

liam8282

Not sure at all, but....

I am under the impression that tax credits calculations are mainly income based, and the only expenses that are brought into the calculations are essentials like council tax and rents.

kizzy2010

i think liam is right. tax credits are purely income based. they dont take into account what expenses you have going out, only whats coming in and what your circumstances are, ie partner/kids/work.

Finsmum

Thanks you guys, its a minefield at the best of times! Dont want to come across as the wicked stepmum but i have always wondered if it went through the csa would it have made a difference.

kizzy2010

i know if it goes through the csa, they cant award as much to your step daughters mother as they would if she was your husbands only child. they have to take into consideration that your money and your husbands money, has to support your 2 younger ones too. from personal experience if you went through the csa you would probably end up paying less than what you do.
my ex was doing the same for his kids from his last marriage. he was paying for them, the agreed amount, but their mother was always coming to him for money for shoes, clothes, etc.
when we split, i went to the csa for the 2 children we had together and it works out that he actually pays less now for all 4 of the children, than what he was giving his ex for just the 2.
hope that makes sense

SuziQ

http://www.csa.gov.uk/en/PDF/leaflets/new/CSL301.pdf

this is a very informative leaflet all about chid mainenance and how they work it out. TBH though-£120 per month is not very much to support a child in my opinion. I am a pwc who gest nothing, but £30 a week is very little as I am sure you know as you have children of your own.Also, if CTC adjusts according to how much a nrp pays in CM then effectively, the benefit system would be paying that maintenace if you think about it. If a man has a child in a first relationship then he has to help pay for that child whether or not he chooses to have more, imo-and I say that even though my ex refuses to pay CM and my second husband has paid for his 2 oldest foro ver 10 years, despite being denied access.

Finsmum

As i said we dont mind paying for her and providing anything else that she needs.She didnt ask to be brought into this world.And thirty pounds isnt much, you are right in bringing up a child. I was just wondering whether we would up date and include her or not. Going to sound like a bitter stepmum, but her mother is totally milking the system, and we are claiming what we are entitled to and are struggling as a lot of people are these days.But not keen to inform the relevant people asit would directly affect my stepdaughter.

DX2

Finsmum wrote: »

As i said we dont mind paying for her and providing anything else that she needs.She didnt ask to be brought into this world.And thirty pounds isnt much, you are right in bringing up a child. I was just wondering whether we would up date and include her or not. Going to sound like a bitter stepmum, but her mother is totally milking the system, and we are claiming what we are entitled to and are struggling as a lot of people are these days.But not keen to inform the relevant people asit would directly affect my stepdaughter.

Include her in what?

DX2

Finsmum wrote: »

Hi ya hope someone can help me. I have a step daughter and two young children with my husband. We claim ctc and dont qualify for wtc. She stays with us every 2nd weekend and we pay 30 pounds per week (standing order, not csa)for her, plus stuff for trips new shoes when she needs etc. Was just wondering really, that means as far as the tax people are aware we are between 120 and 150 pounds a month better off when we arent. But there is nowhere on the yearly forms or on the online guide to add that we make that payments to her mother.Where do we stand??

Just so I'm reading this correctly your husband pays £30 per week for his daughter and you want to claim this back as expenses via the tax credit system?

liam8282 wrote: »

Not sure at all, but....

I am under the impression that tax credits calculations are mainly income based, and the only expenses that are brought into the calculations are essentials like council tax and rents.

Council tax and rent have nothing whatsoever to do with tax credits IIRC.

tinkerbell28

Finsmum wrote: »

As i said we dont mind paying for her and providing anything else that she needs.She didnt ask to be brought into this world.And thirty pounds isnt much, you are right in bringing up a child. I was just wondering whether we would up date and include her or not. Going to sound like a bitter stepmum, but her mother is totally milking the system, and we are claiming what we are entitled to and are struggling as a lot of people are these days.But not keen to inform the relevant people asit would directly affect my stepdaughter.

How is she milking the system? Maintenance (child) is not declarable for CTC.

liam8282

DX2 wrote: »

Council tax and rent have nothing whatsoever to do with tax credits IIRC.

Yes that's I meant when I said I wasn't sure.

If the OP uses entitledto like others suggested it does ask for rents & council tax, but this is for other related benefits, not tax credits which are income based.