I work for Tax Credits

Ted_Hutchinson

She recently started to work 10 hrs a week for about £35.

I cannot understand how this can be. See the details of the National Minimum Wage here DTI website

janiewai

As far as I can see Tax Credits are a law upon themselves

I am £110 worse off a week and its killing me, I am bout to go bankrupt

misspriscilla

Thank you all for your replies. I'll tell her to go to the CAB for advice. She doesn't have access to the internet, that was why I posed the question.
The minimum wage isn't always paid as the law stipulates, and some people don't complain because they are afraid they will be asked to leave the job. I'll tell her about the information on the DTI website.
I have made this web site my Home Page, and told many people about it. Thanks and congatulations to all involved.

Ericthered_4

Just about to get the forms for WFT credit but wanted some guidance. Understand you need to work more than 16 hours per week to qualify. I am setting up my own business but not paying myself anything for 12 months....does this count towards the hours? My wife works 7.5 hrs per week for a school and about 10 hours per week looking after 6 rental houses we own and looking for other houses but she does not receive payment for this. The rental income we receive from the houses is mostly offset by costs....Does this count towards the income? Should I apply under my wifes hours of work (even though some not paid) or my own?

Fran

The hours for Working Tax Credit add up the total of your and your wife's income, so as long as that is over 16 hours then you may be entitled. I would guess that if you are not paying stamps and tax for the unpaid work it wouldn't count.

irs101

Eric

Just to note, 16 hours only applies if you have children. If you don't have children one of you needs to be working at least 30 hours.

I don't know the income rules in detail, but they broadly line up with the rules for income tax. So the profit on your houses will count (the amount you pay income tax on).

How are you setting up your business - through a company or as self-employed? If the former, you may be able to pay yourself a small amount but count as if you are working 30 hours (owner-directors are exempt from the National Minimum Wage). By the way, it is always tax efficient to pay yourself a wage equal to the personal allowance - it will be tax-free and also gives you National Insurance credits at zero cost. Of course, this will count as income for tax credits.

If you are setting up as self-employed, their is no concept of retained profits. So any profits you make will be subject to income tax and count as income for WTC - even if you are setting the money aside to use in the business at a later date.

irs.

irs101

misspriscilla

I'm going to say something stronger than others have said.

If your son-in-law is claiming tax credits (and they will be entitled if they earn £58K or less) then your daughter must know about it. Tax credits are a joint claim and your daughter is jointly liable for whatever her husband is telling the Revenue - in fact she should have signed the form. Perhaps, if she's not aware of having signed a form, they're not getting TCs?

Furthermore, if they earn more than £15K or so (surely they must be with 5 kids ) then they are probably just getting Child Tax Credit, which should be being paid to the main carer - is that your daughter?

She needs to find out from her husband exactly what they are claiming. With 5 kids, it could be a lot of money they are missing out on!

irs

Ericthered_4

The hours for Working Tax Credit add up the total of your and your wife's income, so as long as that is over 16 hours then you may be entitled. I would guess that if you are not paying stamps and tax for the unpaid work it wouldn't count.

Following the thread of my previous question. I have set up a ltd co and at some point before the end of the year will pay myself and my wife (both directors) an amount of money circa £4500 each. We both work 10 to 20 hrs for the business but dont get paid yet (will pay it all in one go later). As well as this my wife does 7.5 hrs for £100 per week elsewhere. In making the application I obviously can be flexible re the payment from the business but I guess I only have one hit at the application. How do I best go for this. (we have 3 children under 10 also)

irs101

Eric

It's not really a one hit thing - most of your application is a factual statement, and anything that is unknown or varies can be changed at a later date (it's not like a one shot benefit claim). When you employ yourself there is some flexibility as to how many hours you work. But it doesn't look like it will be an issue for you - your wife works 16 hrs pw and you work more than 30 between you (thus making you eligible for the 30 hour element).

Your initial award will be based on an estimate of your income for this year. On the form they will ask you your 03/04 income and most people's provisional award would be based on that. But you can report a change in income if you think that your income for 04/05 is going to be substantially different. So, because you are setting up a new business, you have good grounds for telling IR that you expect your joint income to be, say, £13K this year. Next April they will send you a renewal form and ask you to confirm your income for 04/05 - although you can still submit an estimate even at this point and then finally confirm in Jan 06 when you've finalised your IT self assessment. If it turns out that your income was, say, £50K you will have to pay some money back. It's a perfectly legitimate way of getting an interest-free loan from IR.

The most important thing is that you should get your claim in ASAP. As you have children, you are already missing out on money (and quite a lot if your income really is going to be that low) as awards can only be backdated 3 months.

irs

Bossyboots

misspriscilla

I'm going to say something stronger than others have said.

If your son-in-law is claiming tax credits (and they will be entitled if they earn £58K or less) then your daughter must know about it. Tax credits are a joint claim and your daughter is jointly liable for whatever her husband is telling the Revenue - in fact she should have signed the form. Perhaps, if she's not aware of having signed a form, they're not getting TCs?

Furthermore, if they earn more than £15K or so (surely they must be with 5 kids ) then they are probably just getting Child Tax Credit, which should be being paid to the main carer - is that your daughter?

She needs to find out from her husband exactly what they are claiming. With 5 kids, it could be a lot of money they are missing out on!

irs

First off, I have never filled in a form for Child Tax Credit that needed signing. I filled it in on line and started receiving the money pretty swiftly afterwards. When I queried the lack of any form to sign I was simply told they were too busy to send them out so not to worry about it.

There is mention on this thread of overpayment. I have taken that to mean being made an award greater than it should have been. My situation is that I should no longer be getting Tax Credits and yet they are still being paid into my account every month. I have no problem with holding onto the money to pay back later but I am very worried that the payments are still coming even though I am no longer entitled. I have checked back on my paperwork printed off after making my claim and the dates are correct so they have the information about when to stop.

Should I just wait until they realise or should I be proactive in getting them to take the money back?