tax credits ALERT for people on incapacity benefit

diceydeb

I have just found out that for the last 5 years i have lost out on £50 a week in tax credits ! this is because my other half is on incapacity benefit and i have been putting this down on the forms as acountable income when all this time i did not have to! having read the small print in the renewal notes i descover that only incapacity paid after 1995 is required to be declared. My new increased payment has been sorted for this year but i may have lost all the previous years!!! I wonder how many other people are aware of this.

nashly

Tax credits were not around in 1995 so why use that date ?

Lou76

diceydeb wrote: »

I have just found out that for the last 5 years i have lost out on £50 a week in tax credits ! this is because my other half is on incapacity benefit and i have been putting this down on the forms as acountable income when all this time i did not have to! having read the small print in the renewal notes i descover that only incapacity paid after 1995 is required to be declared. My new increased payment has been sorted for this year but i may have lost all the previous years!!! I wonder how many other people are aware of this.

I'm struggling here to understand your post.

Incapacity benefit, as far as I can see on my P60, is classed as taxable benefit.

You say it's only IB after 1995 that need to be declared; that's 16 years ago (that it didn't have to be declared), you're only claiming for the past 5 years.

I think you've been doing the right thing for the past 5 years?

Hopefully someone more knowledgable will be able to answer you.

pebbles88

Lou76 wrote: »

I'm struggling here to understand your post.

Incapacity benefit, as far as I can see on my P60, is classed as taxable benefit.

You say it's only IB after 1995 that need to be declared; that's 16 years ago (that it didn't have to be declared), you're only claiming for the past 5 years.

I think you've been doing the right thing for the past 5 years?

Hopefully someone more knowledgable will be able to answer you.

i am 90% sure it is taxable, as it's classed as an income for the likes of help with health costs etc. and a few yrs ago, when i was claiming it, we had to declare it as income to tax credits.

nashly

I see now having just read it on the website, I am in the same boat as you as my wife has been on IB since 1994 and I have always declared her benefit as income on the tax credits form, will they backdate it by any chance to the begining of tax credits:D

yappycat

Lou76 wrote: »

I'm struggling here to understand your post.

Incapacity benefit, as far as I can see on my P60, is classed as taxable benefit.

You say it's only IB after 1995 that need to be declared; that's 16 years ago (that it didn't have to be declared), you're only claiming for the past 5 years.

I think you've been doing the right thing for the past 5 years?

Hopefully someone more knowledgable will be able to answer you.

Perhaps this will clarify:

What to include in 'taxable social security benefits'

If you've had any of the benefits listed below, include the total amount in the 'taxable social security benefits' box:

• Bereavement Allowance
• Carer's Allowance (this used to be called Invalid Care Allowance) - also include any Child Dependency increase
• Incapacity Benefit paid after the first 28 weeks of incapacity, together with any Child Dependency increase - but don't include it if you claimed it before 1995 and have received it ever since
• taxable Income Support - it's only taxable if you were in a couple, and the person receiving the Income Support was on strike
• contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance - don’t include it if it is the income-related allowance
• contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance - don’t include it if it is the income-based allowance

Lou76

yappycat wrote: »

Perhaps this will clarify:

What to include in 'taxable social security benefits'

If you've had any of the benefits listed below, include the total amount in the 'taxable social security benefits' box:

• Bereavement Allowance
• Carer's Allowance (this used to be called Invalid Care Allowance) - also include any Child Dependency increase
• Incapacity Benefit paid after the first 28 weeks of incapacity, together with any Child Dependency increase - but don't include it if you claimed it before 1995 and have received it ever since
• taxable Income Support - it's only taxable if you were in a couple, and the person receiving the Income Support was on strike
• contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance - don’t include it if it is the income-related allowance
• contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance - don’t include it if it is the income-based allowance

Ahh right, now it makes sense, I hope. :rotfl:

Basically the OP's OH could have been claiming IB since before 1995, but the Tax Credit Claim has been in the last 5 years?

In which case, as they state, the IB should be exluded from income?

Sorry OP, I didn't mean to hijack your thread.

diceydeb

Yes this is the case but I fear i may have lost out on thousands of pounds because of this ! i bet they will not backdate, if i owed them they'd be sure to claw it back.... just have to hope n pray....told me it could take weeks to get a descision on this.

diceydeb

Thats ok, just goes to show how misleading it is ...i bet there are thousands of people out there oblivious to this and not getting the right money.

minimadtrix

This happened to us. Despite calling the TC office on numerous occasions with change in jobs to check if we were eligible. At no point did the person ask me when my hubby received his IB from. It was only thanks to someone on here that worked in TC that I contacted that I found out we had been entitled for over 3 years, but hadn't claimed.

Sadly, there is no way of claiming for that missed money.

minimadtrix

briancrum wrote: »

it states it clearly in the notes of the form, on the website and claim form so because YOU cant read you demand money back??

And my argument with that would be that the people answering the phone should also clearly ask you - I rang the TC Helpline, never received a form or notes and did not check the website. As it is a Helpline, shouldn't they point this out to you? Which makes me wonder how many of their trained staff are also aware of it.