Benefits check up guide and tool discussion

debbie_40

I wondered if I was entitled to working tax credit as I work 30 hours week and earn 11,500 a year. It say s that I am entitled to £0.00 which I thought was a little harsh!

Is that right? I would have thought that £11,500 was not a high wage so as to be out of the bracket for working tax credit.

I am a little confused now as to the reliability of the calculation.

Any thoughts?

borderline

Lol why is this tool only available if you are British or Irish citizen??..

dannyboybath

I'm trying to use the. Calculator but it freezes on page 8 because it says my figures don't look right . It doesn't like it because I haven't earnt anything at all due to illness . So therefore I put 0 . I've just started a job this week so when it says is your earnings increased , I put yes , by £10,000. My salary will be £10500 . It won't progress any further . Our joint income is £1900 a month , 1 x 18 year old at college. And 1 x 16 year old at sixth form . I just need to try to establish hat , if any we are entitled too.

ravenskycostello

Just going to point out that the Housing Benefits part doesn't take into account your age. Where I live, a Care Leaver (like me) over the age of 22, but under 35, you are only entitled the amount of a room in a shared house. That caps it at £351pcm, or thereabouts. According to this calculator, I'm entitled to the full amount. Would be nice! Currently paying £500 a month for a tiny one bed house on an unadopted road, and it's so bloody cold I spend what's left of my JSA on boiling the kettle for hot water bottles and 11p a pack noodles, which are pretty much the only thing I've eaten in about three months.

Query51

We claim tax credits as a couple and based on my husband's estimated income this year were due to receive £1,700. (his income is over £5k more than last year). I started a new job in August and will earn about £7k this tax year (:j) - have advised tax credits and have just received a letter to say that our new entitlement is £180 and we will have to repay £1200 already received. Can this be right - our entitlement changed only when I started my job - surely they can't claw back this money - effectively I will lose about 20% of what I'm due to earn this tax year - it's like clawing back unemployment benefit if someone gets a new job...:( (there's been no change between estimate and actual earnings for my husband - it is only my income that has led to this overpayment) - help please is there anything I can do?

JimmyTheWig

Query51 wrote: »

have just received a letter to say that our new entitlement is £180 and we will have to repay £1200 already received. Can this be right - our entitlement changed only when I started my job - surely they can't claw back this money

Congratulations on the new job.

As I understand it (though I'm no expert) it's worked out on a whole year basis, just like the amount of tax that you pay.
I presume that from April you won't be getting any tax credits due to the increased household income. In fact, I'm guessing that you are significantly over the boundary to receive any.

While, obviously, next year you won't get a "negative" tax credits award (no-one gets less than zero in a year) for these next 6 months you will, in effect, get negative as your yearly total will only just be under the limit so you have to pay most of it back.


You know what? That made complete sense in my mind before I wrote it down. Now I have absolutely no faith that anyone will understand what I've written. But I'll post it just in case...

Query51

Thanks...that kind of makes sense, I knew we wouldn't be entitled once I'd started new job but didn't realise they would treat my income as having been received over the whole year...seems a tad unfair- entitlement from start of this tax year to when I started my job was based on need, if I'd started job on 6th April next year there would have been no claw-back....:(

lilmissclass

If you are on income support and cb and hb are you allowed to work at all before it affects your benefits? Is there like a 16hr a wk threshold a and then your benefits are affected or is it a case of even 1hr would affect your benefits?

lilmissclass

Sorry meant to add child tax credit as well

lilmissclass

It's the first time I've ever been on benefits so I was really unsure. Any help would be appreciated