Tax credit renewal - general questions (merged)

zagfles

rosieposie04 wrote: »

Hello everyone, I hope someone can answer my question.
My husband is self employed, homeowner working 40 hrs(down from 44hrs) We do not have any children. Our income for 2010/11 was £6800. I have since lost my income and our total for 2011/12 reduced to £3600. HMRC's renewal letter says we are no longer entitled to tax credits and all our payments have stopped. They also say we owe them £1300 in overpayments. Can this be correct? This means we will loose our home and only have £43 a week to live on. Neither of us receive any other benefits and we have used all our savings since I lost my job.
I had just decided to apply for a college course to help increase my employability chances, but after receiving this letter I dont know which way to turn now.

They probably don't have your husband down as working 30+ hours, or they think your income is a lot higher. Check your last renewal.

Your husband will need to keep evidence of his working hours as HMRC investigate low-income self-employed to make sure they're working the hours they say they are. Loads of threads on this in this board.

zagfles

BillyWhizz12 wrote: »

Hi, can anyone tell me if i now owe money to tax credits...
i have changed job a couple of times this year and have claimed and stopped claiming working tax credits as when was necessary. I have now received my reviews and renewals forms and although i estimated my total income would be £17,000 for the tax year i now find it is in fact only £9,940 including 2 short periods of job seekers and ESA both of which were contribution based. A question on one of the forms has me concerned as it asks ... ''you stated that you expected to earn £17,000... but now you have worked it out was it less than £13,035 if so contact us now... ??? I fear the worst !
Any advice much appreciated

They'll probably owe you rather than you owing them, as your income was lower than expected. Provided you were only getting WTC while working (plus the run-on), and you met the hours requirement during that time.

hay77

Have you all received your renewal pack? I am still waiting. Feeling quite nervouse now because I know that payments are going to decrease and they have paid me 3 or 4 times already.

rosieposie04

zagfles wrote: »

They probably don't have your husband down as working 30+ hours, or they think your income is a lot higher. Check your last renewal.

Your husband will need to keep evidence of his working hours as HMRC investigate low-income self-employed to make sure they're working the hours they say they are. Loads of threads on this in this board.

Thank you very much for your reply. I have checked the forms and they do have my husband listed as working 40 hours and they have the correct income figures. They say it is because I am currently unemployed and we don't have children. They say both partners must be in employment and are really digging their heels in on this.

Eggybread

rosieposie04 wrote: »

Thank you very much for your reply. I have checked the forms and they do have my husband listed as working 40 hours and they have the correct income figures. They say it is because I am currently unemployed and we don't have children. They say both partners must be in employment and are really digging their heels in on this.

I'm new too but I thought only one of a couple had to work over the required hours to qualify?

rosieposie04

Eggybread wrote: »

I'm new too but I thought only one of a couple had to work over the required hours to qualify?

That's what we believed to be true, but the person from the HMRC is most unhelpful and says otherwise. They are being really awkward with us. Even my husbands accountant has tried to help, but they won't budge.

System

Just wondered if anyone had managed to get through to the tax credits helpline recently, to renew over the phone? I called twice yesterday when my call was just cut off before speaking to someone - no one was available. And today apparently the system is down. It's annoying that you have to listen to a 4-5minutes recorded message before they tell you this

zagfles

rosieposie04 wrote: »

Thank you very much for your reply. I have checked the forms and they do have my husband listed as working 40 hours and they have the correct income figures. They say it is because I am currently unemployed and we don't have children. They say both partners must be in employment and are really digging their heels in on this.

They are telling you utter rubbish. Assuming your husband is over 25 and working 30+ hours then you can claim WTC whether or not you're working.

See http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/TCTM02410.htm

I'd give them another ring and hope you get someone with a clue, otherwise write to them, or contact your MP.

zagfles

rubyjam wrote: »

Can someone please help re Tax Credits?

We are a married couple with 2 children. 1 child age 11 and 1 child aged 16.Our joint gross income is £26,800 and I have been informed that we not eligible for Tax Credits (verbally I renewed by telephone)

My 16 year old started A Levels last September but changed her mind and lefts school (mid December) and started an apprenticeship (first week in January).She was paid £91 per week. I informed Tax Credits and our payment was adjusted and eventually stopped. The apprenticeship turned out to be a waste of time -BBC Panorama even made a programme about this particular apprenticeship provider. There was no work placement and no prospect of her ever getting one so at the end of April she decided she no longer wanted to continue with this scam/scheme.

She has now been accepted on a BTEC course at a local college which starts in September. Since April I have been trying to get Tax Credits re-instated and I am getting nowhere. It seems they can't put information on their computer which is in the future. Which seems fair enough ... however I am confused as this information contradicts the Tax Credit Renewal guide they sent to me which says we must inform them of any change in circumstances immediately.

She is a young person, under the age of 20 and has been 'accepted' on a full time non-advanced course before the age of 19, 'accepted' is their word and not mine. I have been told to ring them in September - why can't they accept the information now? The guide clearly says ‘accepted’ … surely the wording would be ‘started’ if they couldn’t accept claims until a course had started. It also says claims can only be backdated for1 month so does this mean I won't be getting anything for the period between April and August.

It's like are in some kind of ' limbo grey' area - she can't claim benefits in her own right and neither can we. Surely there must be hundreds of thousands of 16 year olds who are waiting to start college whose parents are receiving Tax Credits - so why can’t we?

As of now we are not eligible for Tax Credits. (Apparently we have 1 child and earn over £25k per year so we get nothing ... I could have sworn I spotted a very moody 16 year old sitting on the sofa last night ). I have made many (expensive) phone calls to the helpline and have kept them informed of all changes and I'm running out of steam. Is there anything I can do? I just don't get why we are not eligible. My renewal was done over the telephone – would it help or hinder if I wrote to them? We qualify on every single circumstance the guide states. I could really do with the money ... HELP!!

Yes, write to them. Quite often people are told rubbish over they phone, they are much more likely to get things right if you write to them.

I'm not sure whether you'd qualify based on the above but have you read the manual in particular this page which may help http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/TCTM02220.htm

miss_hh

Hi,
Could someone explain to me what taxable benefits are? I was on income support for 6 months last year. If I phone the ssa, will they tell me exactly how much I was given and if it is a taxable benefit? I need to know this for my renewal.