16 year old son wanting to work part time?

citygirl2010

Hi, i recieve dla and esa for myself, and tax credits for my son who is 16 and leaves school next year, he will be going to college, i am just wondering if he works part time for extra money for himself etc, i recieve maximum housing benefit, would this affect it etc and roughly by how much, he might say get a wage of 40 to 50 pounds etc p week, i really am not sure at this point tbh, i am lost here and have not got a clue how any of this works, sny help would be appreciated. thanks!

nannytone_2

as he is your dependant, any money he earns will not impact your benefit entitlement.

fuzzybear01

nannytone wrote: »

as he is your dependant, any money he earns will not impact your benefit entitlement.

This is not true entirely. When I started working (20 hours a week)at 17, my Mum's housing benefit was slashed to £0 even though I was still in sixth form. So I was pretty much paying to house my Mum and 2 other children

nannytone_2

was your mum receiving dla?

joanne_d_3

Op , when you say "college" what exactly do you mean ?

Is it further education or higher education. The answer to this makes a difference as if its further education your son will receive EMA which means he gets paid a weekly allowance to continue with his studies - the amount of the EMA is currently £30 per week (max).

If it IS further education your son will attend then he will get this EMA payment weekly PLUS you will continue to receive your tax credits for him . You will also continue to receive your child benefit.

Now...if your son gets a part time job whilst he is studying , his income is not taken into consideration for your tax credits.

On parts of the HMRC website it states that your son will be able to work a MAXIMUM of 24 hours per week without it affecting your payments but another poster has since advised me that there does not appear to be a limit to the hours they can work as long as it is not way more than the hours they are studying as the job would then be classed more as full time.

If it is higher education to which your post refers then im afraid i have no helpful info for you as i have no experience to share.

I only know the above info as my daughter left school THIS year and is studying whilst working part time.

citygirl2010

joanne_d wrote: »

Op , when you say "college" what exactly do you mean ?

Is it further education or higher education. The answer to this makes a difference as if its further education your son will receive EMA which means he gets paid a weekly allowance to continue with his studies - the amount of the EMA is currently £30 per week (max).

If it IS further education your son will attend then he will get this EMA payment weekly PLUS you will continue to receive your tax credits for him . You will also continue to receive your child benefit.

Now...if your son gets a part time job whilst he is studying , his income is not taken into consideration for your tax credits.

On parts of the HMRC website it states that your son will be able to work a MAXIMUM of 24 hours per week without it affecting your payments but another poster has since advised me that there does not appear to be a limit to the hours they can work as long as it is not way more than the hours they are studying as the job would then be classed more as full time.

If it is higher education to which your post refers then im afraid i have no helpful info for you as i have no experience to share.

I only know the above info as my daughter left school THIS year and is studying whilst working part time.

thanks so much for your advice, yes he will be starting sixth form to study for his A levels, i didnt know about the EMA either, so he will have to apply for that will he himself? that would be great if he could get that and a little extra from working part time too, i will help him as much as i can of course, but i think he wants to try and show a little independance i guess which is a good thing and will prepare him for the future when he enters his chosen career.

[Deleted User]

did his secondary school not send out info on EMA they should have done
and the 24 hour rule does still stand if you claim CB and CTC

joanne_d_3

Citygirl am i right in thinking that your son is currently in his final year of school - as in he is only in fifth year at the min ?

He will not be entitled to receive EMA payments until he is in furthereducation ie , next year.

EMA is payable to children who remain in education after their 16th birthday.

As he is in fifth year now , towards the end of the school year which will be June time 2011 , his school will provide him with all the necessary papaerwork which he will require to apply for the allowance.

Make sure you keep all of your benefit entitlement paper work which you receive this year.

The documents i had to send away to apply for my Daughter's EMA were :

last years tc award notice so keep any you receive this year as you will need them next year

My p60 which i received in 2010

My Husband's P60 received in 2010

Evidence of my Husband's self employment income.

Childs birth certificate.

Once it comes to June 2011 and your son is sure he will be remaining in education get those EMA formed filled in and sent off .

Once the school confirms with the EMA dept that your son has returned to school in Sept payments will be made directly into his own bank account fortnightly so if your son does not have a bank account at present you need to consider opening one for him in advance .

As i say i have just gone through all of this with my Daughter so if theres anything else i can help you with please just ask either on the boards of through pm.

Joanne

midgetsmum

woodbine wrote: »

did his secondary school not send out info on EMA they should have done
and the 24 hour rule does still stand if you claim CB and CTC

The 24 hour rule only applies to CB if the child has left full time education. As long as they are studying for more than an average of 12 hours a week in a qualifying education course they can work as many hours per week as they want.

[Deleted User]

12 hours a week in further education is FULL TIME,but if in receipt of CB and CTC then the 24 hour rule still applies

joanne_d_3

See , it's this "24 hour rule" which has me confused too.....

On the HMRC website it states :

Once your child reaches 16


Within one month, tell the Tax Credit Office if your child:

• leaves full time education or approved training after the 1 September following their sixteenth birthday
• starts full-time education that's provided as part of a job or through any office they hold (such as a scout leader or councillor)
• starts approved training that's being provided as part of any contract of employment
• gets Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance or tax credits in their own right
• starts doing paid work for 24 hours or more a week and they're not in full time education or approved training
• stops being registered with a careers service like Connexions - where you are getting the extra period of tax credits for them (of up to 20 weeks)

Within three months, tell the Tax Credit Office if your child:

• stays on - or goes back to - school or full-time education
• starts an approved training course
• stops school or college or approved training, is aged 16 or 17 and registers with a careers service, like Connexions

So...........as far as i can see from the above info , as long as your child REMAINS in education (full time) , theres actually no limit to the hours they can work per week

The info above states that as long as they remain in education you do not even need to inform HMRC that they are in employment.


Then there is the following info which is taken from another part of the HMRC website which is worded ever so slightly different and indicates that you must inform HMRC if your child takes on a job even if they DO remain in education.....it's all a bit confusing......

Top
Keeping the Tax Credit Office up to date

Changes to report within one month

Tell the Tax Credit Office within one month if your child:

• leaves school or college or approved training before 31 August after their 16th birthday
• starts training that's provided as part of their job
• gets a paid job and they're usually paid to work for 24 hours or more a week
• starts to receive benefits or tax credits in their own right
• stops being registered with a careers service like Connexions - where you are getting the extra period of tax credits for them (of up to 20 weeks)

If you don't report these changes, you might be paid too much tax credits. If the Tax Credit Office does overpay you, you'll usually have to pay the money back. They may also charge you a penalty


So , does anyone have any ideas .... if a child remains in full time education and works 22 hours per week do i need to tell HMRC or not ?