working tax credits

kitty12_2

i was wondering if anyone can help me on this one. i am going to be on the phone to the tax credits helpline tomorrow as it is my day off, i have just started working full time and i have three teenagers all in full time education what i want to know is will i be paid working tax credits before i get my first wage as i will not have a wage slip until then for any info they might need about my wages. before this job i was on jsa and the advisor was not very helpful when i asked him as he was more interested in signing me off jsa. any advice would be gratefully recieved. one confused parent:eek:

selloptape

Hi there,

When I changed job last I just needed to tell them some info which I got from the finance department where I work - I think it was the employers PAYE ref, along with the hours worked and amount paid - so I don't think you need a payslip. I can't remember how long it took to go through tho, sorry.

Murgatroyd21

Ok, to claim wtc (and be prepared for a wait to get through) is relatively straightforward. How soon you get paid will depend whether you already have an existing claim for ctc, as all you will be doing is adding more info to your claim and payment for etc can quite often be included with your next payment. If you haven't got a claim in place it will take longer as it has to go through the new claim process.

In either case, you need to call the helpline and have your nino (national insurance number) and personal details to hand. If you already have a claim you just need to advise you have started work and will need to provide the date you started, if you were previously on benefits give the end date (usually the day before you started work), and have your employer details to hand. Preferably this would be the company name, PAYE ref (usually something like 000/ab12345) which is your employers tax reference number, or the address of the employer including the postcode. If you don't have either the PAYE ref or full address you WILL be told to call back. You need the start date for employment and the hours you work each week ON AVERAGE, doesn't matter if it's 20 most weeks and 30 for odd periods, it's the average you expect to work you give. You may find later that you are contracted to one figure but regularly do different hours, the hours you normally work are what you should use and you can call back to update this.

You may be asked for last year's income details, so if you were on non-taxable benefits for the year it would be £0. If you worked for any part of the year, self employed or employed, no matter how long or how many hours per week, you need that figure. Too, if you received taxable benefits, such as JSA contribution based, carers allowance, etc, you should provide those figures as taxable benefit income, which is counted towards the household taxable income figure.

If you have a partner and the details aren't already on the system you need to provide the same details for them. You can provide an ESTIMATE of how much you expect to earn this year, as where it is lower than the previous year taxable income this years income can be used to base the entitlement on giving a higher wtc entitlement. Remember when you calculate this year's income to bear in mind when you started work. Don't give the annual salary you would get if it had been a full year, calculate from when you started to the end of the tax year (5th April 2011) and add on any taxable income you have already received this tax year (from 6th April 2010).

If it is a new claim, you would have to wait for the form to arrive (within 10 days of the request), then the time it takes in sending it back bearing in mind the clock only starts once it's received. Then it can take up to 3 weeks to be processed as long as you've given all details needed and there are no other issues.

You should provide details of an account for payments to be made, and confirm the frequency, i.e. weekly or 4 weekly. If you are single and claiming ctc it will be made to the same account. If you are part of a couple, only the person working can have wtc payments attributed to them.

Sorry it' a bit long winded, just trying to cover the bases for you. Hope it helps.

kitty12_2

Just a quick update to say i got through on the tax credits helpline today and the lady that answered my call was very helpful if only the jobcentre were that helpful it would make peoples lives a lot easier.