Tax credit renewal - general questions (merged)

quernmore1961

Hi can anyone advise?.In 2010 my partner and i were advised to apply for working tax credits as we were struggling with finance.In 2009-2010 we earned £4228.00 so an award was made,In 2010-2011 our income rose to £17.778.00.On all occasions we have informed them of our circumstances.Not until 24 of August2011 they have informed us that both periods have been overpaid in total by £2676.40.Add to this in Nov 2010 we both went bankrupt and are still in bankruptcy.Where do we stand as we thought you couldnt have any debt!

debtfree27thmay

Hi, I wonder if someone could advise please? I have recently told tax credits of a change in circumstances. My husband has changed jobs and has gone from a part time 25hr contract to a new 38.5hr contract. (Due to my redundancy pay and a few weeks wages our total income for this year will only be £100 more than last year.) Therefore this years TC are based on last years salary of £17,200. Total salary for this year( husbands 25hr job for 6mths and 38.5hr job for remaining 6mths) will be £17,300 (within the £10K disregard).
My question is TC still have my husband down as working 25hrs, which is wrong. If I inform them that it should be 38.5hrs, i.e the next banding up, over 30hrs. Will that mean an increase, decrease or no change in the amount of tax credits we will receive? Thank you.

bluelamp

Hi i need some advice. Our baby is due next week. between April 2010-April 2011 i earnt 26000 and my girlfriend earnt 17500.


how much working tax credit, child tax credit, benefits will we get on average as a minimum

kris1893

quernmore1961 wrote: »

Hi can anyone advise?.In 2010 my partner and i were advised to apply for working tax credits as we were struggling with finance.In 2009-2010 we earned £4228.00 so an award was made,In 2010-2011 our income rose to £17.778.00.On all occasions we have informed them of our circumstances.Not until 24 of August2011 they have informed us that both periods have been overpaid in total by £2676.40.Add to this in Nov 2010 we both went bankrupt and are still in bankruptcy.Where do we stand as we thought you couldnt have any debt!

If you have both entered bankruptcy you should inform the TC helpline, and they will inform their head office as it is something they would want to know if there is an outstanding o/p on your claim.

debtfree27thmay wrote: »

Hi, I wonder if someone could advise please? I have recently told tax credits of a change in circumstances. My husband has changed jobs and has gone from a part time 25hr contract to a new 38.5hr contract. (Due to my redundancy pay and a few weeks wages our total income for this year will only be £100 more than last year.) Therefore this years TC are based on last years salary of £17,200. Total salary for this year( husbands 25hr job for 6mths and 38.5hr job for remaining 6mths) will be £17,300 (within the £10K disregard).
My question is TC still have my husband down as working 25hrs, which is wrong. If I inform them that it should be 38.5hrs, i.e the next banding up, over 30hrs. Will that mean an increase, decrease or no change in the amount of tax credits we will receive? Thank you.

It is something you should report as the hours have gone to 30 or more pw which means there may be a small increase in entitlement judging by the income figures.

bluelamp wrote: »

Hi i need some advice. Our baby is due next week. between April 2010-April 2011 i earnt 26000 and my girlfriend earnt 17500.


how much working tax credit, child tax credit, benefits will we get on average as a minimum

Child Benefit would be circa £80 every 4 weeks, but based on 10-11 income you may not qualify for Child Tax Credit; however, you should still put in a claim as no doubt your current year income will be lower when you factor in maternity pay and the (up to) £100 pw disregard for each week of any paid maternity or paternity leave.

kezia

Skint_but_Optimistic wrote: »

And sometimes you tell them three times and they still disregard it!

Ok So I spoke to them again about this - and have now received a letter to say they looked again at their descision. And as the tax year has now ended ( 2010/11) they are unable to help? So my 13 weeks (dec-april) x £100 of 'ignored' maternity pay has been left off. I did tell them at least twice, I rang and told them about the change ( me going on to maternity leave) the day it happened! and when I renewed.



They still want the £200 over payment back though. :rotfl:

Wiley

kezia wrote: »

Ok So I spoke to them again about this - and have now received a letter to say they looked again at their descision. And as the tax year has now ended ( 2010/11) they are unable to help? So my 13 weeks (dec-april) x £100 of 'ignored' maternity pay has been left off. I did tell them at least twice, I rang and told them about the change ( me going on to maternity leave) the day it happened! and when I renewed.



They still want the £200 over payment back though. :rotfl:

You should appeal this decision. If you did tell them but the income used is still without the mat leave disregard being taken off, i doubt they will have put it in there notes on the system. But all the calls are recorded. You can request dates and times of your calls from the helpline and can then request a copy of the calls you made through a Subject Access Request. This has to be done in writing by letter or fax but the advisor will be able to give you the address and/or fax number to submit your request. You can then review the calls yourself and if it was mentioned and the advisor didnt take this into account you can obviously then appeal the decision.

Oh and at the same time when you call to get details of the calls ask they send you an appeals leaflet

NTC

Wiley wrote: »

You should appeal this decision. If you did tell them but the income used is still without the mat leave disregard being taken off, i doubt they will have put it in there notes on the system. But all the calls are recorded. You can request dates and times of your calls from the helpline and can then request a copy of the calls you made through a Subject Access Request. This has to be done in writing by letter or fax but the advisor will be able to give you the address and/or fax number to submit your request. You can then review the calls yourself and if it was mentioned and the advisor didnt take this into account you can obviously then appeal the decision.

Oh and at the same time when you call to get details of the calls ask they send you an appeals leaflet

While this reply is correct (with the possible exception of fax number availability) I felt it appropriate to stress that the chances of a successful appeal depend on the nature of the information provided. In Tax Credits the onus is on the customer. From the information given a successful appeal seem somewhat unlikely. It's the information you gave on the annual declaration which matters. If you declared gross income without deducting the SMP allowance (as advised in the renewal notes) the law may well not allow the change. If you renewed by phone and clearly stated that you had not deducted the allowance but wished to do so, or if you were wrongly advised on the information to provide then you may have grounds for appeal. The important point is that the SMP allowance can be set against income by the customer. Informing HMRC of maternity leave or receipt of maternity pay has no significance - it is only the income figures declared by the customer that can be used by HMRC, although helpline advisors can help customers with the calculation. If making an appeal submitting a Subject Access Request will delay an already lengthy process. If you provide even rough information about the calls you made (months in which call may have been made, or year failing that and what information you believe you provided, for example) the relevant calls will be listened to as part of the appeals process. I know it's a little while since the post, but I wouldn't like people to get the impression that appeals are a sure rote to success.

Brodiebobs

After all the problems I had renewing when i received my documents back in sept i thought it was finally resolved...

Until yesterday when my childminder showed me a letter from the tax credits. Asking how long my son had been attending, amounts paid, days attended and intimating they may ask to check her records for payment.

I'm fuming, just glad she knows me and that i wouldnt lie, should imagine its alot worse when its more impersonal like a large nursery!!

Why would they finalise my award then decide to start running checks on me now?

kris1893

Brodiebobs wrote: »

After all the problems I had renewing when i received my documents back in sept i thought it was finally resolved...

Until yesterday when my childminder showed me a letter from the tax credits. Asking how long my son had been attending, amounts paid, days attended and intimating they may ask to check her records for payment.

I'm fuming, just glad she knows me and that i wouldnt lie, should imagine its alot worse when its more impersonal like a large nursery!!

Why would they finalise my award then decide to start running checks on me now?

HMRC are putting much resources into combating "error and fraud". I wouldn't take it personally. Childcare is the most abused part of the TC system due to the amounts involved and errors caused by the complexities in calculating average weekly costs.

gerturdeanna

Wonder if anyone can help please?
Informed CTC in May this year that I'd stopped using childcare provider and payments dropped from £40 to £10. The money gets paid into a seperate account and I've juts realised I've not had any payments since August this year!!! Had no correspondence from them at all - is there an email address I can email them on as I hate spending hours in phonr queues!!

Gert x