Guessing at income for tax credits

Person_one

On my basic salary I qualify for tax credits, not sure of the exact amount yet as I haven't sent the claim form back.

The problem is, on top of my meagre salary, I get a shift allowance for working unsociable hours sometimes. These hours aren't guaranteed, and aren't regular so my payslip will be a little bit different every month.

How on earth do I tell tax credits my income? Any ideas?

All I can think of is to wait until I've had a few paydays and take an average, but then I'd be going months without the tax credits and to be honest, I could really use the money.

I really don't want to be overpaid and end up with a bill later on!

alwaysonthego_2

Tax credits will be based on 09-10 earnings.

Person_one

Mine won't be as my circumstances have changed dramatically and my earnings for 10/11 will be roughly 55% of 09/10.

alwaysonthego_2

Person_one wrote: »

Mine won't be as my circumstances have changed dramatically and my earnings for 10/11 will be roughly 55% of 09/10.

You should over estimate, some say by £1000 to avoid a overpayment.

Person_one

alwaysonthego wrote: »

You should over estimate, some say by £1000 to avoid a overpayment.

The problem is, I have no idea what number I should go over by 1000!

One month I could work 10 night shifts and 3 sundays and get quite a bit extra, the next month none and only get my basic salary and I have no way of knowing how it will actually pan out.

I don't want to be overpaid, but equally I don't want to do myself out of a bit of extra help.

alwaysonthego_2

It's a difficult one, but as you know you will have not income disregard so any underestimate will result in an overpayment.

Murgatroyd21

Well, ask your employer if they can give an estimate of your likely working hours. If they can't help, you either have to make a decision to give a figure with the knowledge you could potentially be overpaid or don't claim. If you can't come up with an answer to your expected income, no-one here can tell you.

What you may want to consider, is how much you need the tax credits now. You can minimise the overpayment by updating the current year income as and when you become clearer on your estimate as time goes on, but you won't usually have an overpayment to repay until next year in any case, until the claim is finalised for this year.