tax credits for low income

MITZIW

do tax credits take into account the amount of rent you have to pay out when they calculate if you will get any help on top of wages (working tax credit) we rent privately in the south so it is quite high and my oh might have to take a lower paid job than we are used to. the jobcentre seem to think we MIGHT get tax credits on top and they asked our rent and council tax figures when they worked it out.
i am worried that this isnt right but we wont know until he takes a low paid job then we will be stuck trying to pay everything.

lauzellen

No they don't take rent and council tax off the figures. They would have asked for those to see if you may have been entitled to any housing benefit or council tax benefit. You can model your situation on http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx if you put in your situation as it would be.

Jowo_2

When it comes to tax credits, this will not take into account any expenses relating to rent, it will be based on criteria like income, hours worked for working tax credits, number of kids for child tax credits.

Rent is factored into Local Housing Allowance/Housing Benefit. Put your details into the Turn2us online benefit calculator to check if you are eligible for other benefits. You can model the impact of his lower salary using this calculator. If you live in private property, the LHA Direct website will provide guidance on what the rate is for your size of family.

Also download the MSE budget and work through the site to identify how you can reduce your spending - there is fab info on how to find cheaper suppliers, cheap recipes, etc.

MITZIW

thanks very much