do i qualify for tax credits, please help

coll754

I am currently living in a shared house, i split with my ex over a year ago, i work 30 to 32 hours a week part time, I have 4 children with my ex, we have a private child maintainence agreement setup which after rent & bills leaves me in the red near enough every week, i know me ex claims some sort of tax credits for the children as they live with her, i have the children at my mothers every weekend, thats been the agreement for over a year now, with the plan always being that eventually i would get a place of my own but with my current situation i can't ever see that happening.
So am i eligible to claim any sort of tax credit to get me out of this never ending loop?

I have also tried filling in the eligibility form on the tax credit site but it always presumes my children are living with me and thats not the case and i just want to make sure i do this right and not claim for my children living with me as it would effect ex's claim surely.

Caz3121

For child tax credits only one parent can claim and that is normally the one that receives the child benefit and has the children the majority of the time (they calculate it in nights so 4 nights+ is the majority)
If you are on a low income, over 25 and work over 30 hours you may be entitled to working tax credits and possibly some help with rent. If you put your details in here as a single person etc then it should give you a rough idea http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

If you are looking to get a place of your own and to see if you can get any help with rent you first need to find your LHA (for private lets) you can find this here https://lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx if you are over 25 you are entitled to the one bed rate (if you live alone) under 25 or sharing it would be the shared room rate.....if you add the LHA into the first link too it will tell you if you can get any help

DX2

coll754 wrote: »

I am currently living in a shared house, i split with my ex over a year ago, i work 30 to 32 hours a week part time, I have 4 children with my ex, we have a private child maintainence agreement setup which after rent & bills leaves me in the red near enough every week, i know me ex claims some sort of tax credits for the children as they live with her, i have the children at my mothers every weekend, thats been the agreement for over a year now, with the plan always being that eventually i would get a place of my own but with my current situation i can't ever see that happening.
So am i eligible to claim any sort of tax credit to get me out of this never ending loop?

I have also tried filling in the eligibility form on the tax credit site but it always presumes my children are living with me and thats not the case and i just want to make sure i do this right and not claim for my children living with me as it would effect ex's claim surely.

You can claim tax credits as a single person if you are over 25, you cannot claim child tax credits if the children do not live with you more than the ex.

Indie_Kid

Tax credits (an other benefits) don't take into account what you have left over after paying bills.

coll754

Thanks guys, il def look into this, and hopefully i can get my self sorted