Tax credits - who to claim

Mr_Crafty

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, though I've followed (Sir) Martin's website for a while. Anyway,.....

At present: 1 child in nursery, 1 step-child in nursery and 1 in school. Total cost - about £600/month. No maintenance, unsurprisingly.

My job - 4 days/week - £16500
Partner's job - 3 days/week - £12000

In September she will be returning to full-time education and me to full-time work (total salary - ~ £20,000) and she's been told that we won't be eligible for Child Tax Credits at all. At present, we get about £460/month.

Is this right? And would it make any difference if the application were made in my name?

Cheers all

immoral_angeluk

No because as it stands if you're living together you should both be on the application.

Mr_Crafty

We are both on the application which has always mystified me, because previously the 2 children in the house were not mine, and we weren't married. I had all the responsibility of looking after them, without any rights.

I just wondered if the fact that the application were made by a student, rather than by a full-time worker, made any difference.

Any idea whether we are entitled to anything? Doesn't seem right to me....

alba37

Sorry don't know your answer, but yesterday I was looking for child tax credit phone number and saw this

You can claim if your income is under £58,175 or more if a child is under 1.

immoral_angeluk

Mr_Crafty wrote:

We are both on the application which has always mystified me, because previously the 2 children in the house were not mine, and we weren't married. I had all the responsibility of looking after them, without any rights.

I just wondered if the fact that the application were made by a student, rather than by a full-time worker, made any difference.

Any idea whether we are entitled to anything? Doesn't seem right to me....

As far as I'm aware if you're cohabiting and the children live with you you don't need to be married or their father as you'll still be part of their care...
I had a joint application with my DH from the day our daughter was born long before we were married. As for jobs etc they take both of you into account so it doesn't really matter who does what as they look at it jointly.
Your best bet would be to give them a call and see what they say.

Mr_Crafty

"As far as I'm aware if you're cohabiting and the children live with you you don't need to be married or their father as you'll still be part of their care..."

You're right - what bugs me about that is that I get no say in their life. If my partner died, for instance, I'd never see them again. Anyway, I'm getting side-tracked here.

My partner has already phoned them - they gave her the impression that if she's not in work she shouldn't be incurring any childcare costs. When she said she'd be in full-time education they said she wouldn't be entitled to anything.

That's encouraging people to better themselves isn't it.

Thanks for you help by the way everyone. This is a great (virtual) place in my opinion.

alba37

Sorry Mr Crafty, I should have said welcome to the forum & a Happy New Year too!

You are so right, we are encouraged to better ourselves but in practise it is practically impossible! It seems crazy that a person can't go back to education, I can see this affecting WFTC but not CTC.

BernadetteN

Mr_Crafty wrote:

"As far as I'm aware if you're cohabiting and the children live with you you don't need to be married or their father as you'll still be part of their care..."

You're right - what bugs me about that is that I get no say in their life. If my partner died, for instance, I'd never see them again. Anyway, I'm getting side-tracked here.

My partner has already phoned them - they gave her the impression that if she's not in work she shouldn't be incurring any childcare costs. When she said she'd be in full-time education they said she wouldn't be entitled to anything.

That's encouraging people to better themselves isn't it.

Thanks for you help by the way everyone. This is a great (virtual) place in my opinion.

From the details you have given, I see no reason why your CTC would not increase, because of the drop in household income when your partner goes into full time education. However, if your partner is not working more than 16 hours a week AS WELL AS studying, you will not be entitled to claim for the child care element that goes with WTC - it is likely that your income is too high for any WTC anyway. Unfortuanately, for those families with 2 parents, both parents have to work to be able to claim child care costs and education does not count as work and therefore the system assumes your partner is free to do the child care so you can't claim for any (even though you will need child care unless your partner is going to hide the children whilst studying!)

Emid_3

Is your partner going into further education (A Level & below), or higher Education (HNDs, Foundation Degrees, Undergraduate Degrees, etc)?

Either way, she should be able to apply for Childcare assistance, which can be up to 85% of total costs.

For Further Education, ask her to approach the College about their 'Learner Support Funds'.

For Higher Education, contact Student Finance Direct, at https://www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk

Full time students can't be eligible for the Childcare Element of WTC, by the way, however I've successfully claimed the latter of the above myself, so it can be done.

HTH & Good Luck,
Emily.


PS: Forgot to say that if she's in Higher Education, there'll be a couple of other grants she'll be eligible for, i.e. Dependant's Grant, Parent's Learning Allowance, as well as the standard Student Loan. Check the above website for details of all of these *:)

Mr_Crafty

Thanks Emid.

I'll check that website out now.

She'll be going to higher education, to study Optometry for 3 years. Unfortunately, she won't be eligible for a grant or a loan as she's studied before. Even though she gained a first in Chemistry, has worked for 10 years in industry (more than paying back her fees in tax) and didn't even take a loan first time around, she's not eligible. Great system.

Thanks again all for your advice

kelloggs36

It makes me sick too! I am on a career break from work and have gone into full-time education studying for a degree in Primary Education. I have 3 children, one of whom is looked after by my mum when I am at uni as we do not qualify for any help whatsoever. Whilst I get a loan, our living costs are the same so we still have to pay for everything. Whilst this year it isn't too much of a problem, in September my child benefit for 1 child will cease as will the CTC for her, plus she will be in uni herself, thus leaving us with a lower income but still liable to maintain her as well as having to contribute to my own fees which will be a higher amount because I will lose the 'allowance' of my daughter, thus looking as though my household has a higher income than it does. There is absolutely no help whatsoever for those who wish to help themselves. Now, if I were a single parent, I would get a grant as well as my loan and I would get my childcare costs paid for me. I would not have to pay anything at all towards my fees and my daughter would also get a grant as we would be on a low income. Whilst I wouldn't do it, it makes one wonder why so many people do fiddle the system and claim to be single when they aren't. We would also have no eligibility for council tax instead of just a 25% reduction which we get now which is gratefully received, but doesn't help much!