Who's good at Tax Credits maths?

LL30

Right I'm clutching at straws here! Need to raise another £400 to bank for first month's nursery fees for when I get a job....

So, last year I had a joint TC claim with lo's Dad. I got an annual declaration form in July, asking me if they had the right income details for it. They didn't, despite me having told them, and were £4k over on my income. I filled it in and sent it back. heard nothing (there's a shock) after a few phone calls, they said they had the paperwork and were dealing with it. Then £470 went into my account, lovely I thought! Only to get the paperwork through stating that I hadn't given them the info, so they were going on what they'd got and this was my underpayment - on the wage which was £4K over what I'd earned! Rang them up, followed it with a letter and now they're saying it'll be three more weeks until it's sorted.

Now I'm presuming I will be owed some more money? I'm not relying on it, but like I said, I'm beginning to clutch at straws! Anyone know how I could calculate it? All my savings were used up last year when I had kidney abscesses followed by a pregnancy on bed rest and the premature arrival of my little girl (NICU is expensive, as well as hell!) and now I'm going to have to go on IS - how do people in this situation raise the first months nursery fees?

confused.sam

Hope this helps. Its only a rough calculation and I am not sure where child tax credits stop and working tax credits start, but this is how i work it out.
start with adding up maximum allowances
basic allowance 1920
couples allowance 1950
30 hours work or more per week 790
family 545
each child 2555
TOTAL MAX ALLOWANCES ARE ALL THESE ADDED TOGETHER

next you have to guess how much you will earn as a family this year
then deduct the amount 6420

this figure is then known as the excess, this excess needs to be multiplied by 41%

deduct the 41% figure from the maximum and that is what you will get for the year

sounds complicated i know hope you can follow it, if not post again and i'll try to make it clearer

karenx

Can I ask why your going on IS if you are presumably working/going back to work as you are having to find money for first months nursery fees?

LL30

Thank you, the claim was for 6 months only, then I went on a single claim. I'm rubbish at maths, but I'll try!

Karen - I'm being made redundant on 18th Sept. Got some jobs on the horizon but just struggling to sort one which will be financially viable if I have to go full time (literally only going to earn a couple of hundred more a month for 3 days extra work, but then having to pay for 3 days more nursery!) so I'm in negotiations to see if I can do a job share. Unfortunately, I'm not going to get a start date to coincide with my end date, and I've got to be CRB'd so could be a little while before I actually start, hence the dreaded IS! Really hoping it's a very temporary measure but beginning to realise I may have to accept I'll be on it for a while Regardless of when I go back to work, those nursery fees are still going to have to found, and I'd rather I had it 'banked' so it's one stress out the way!

LL30

confused.sam wrote: »

Hope this helps. Its only a rough calculation and I am not sure where child tax credits stop and working tax credits start, but this is how i work it out.
start with adding up maximum allowances
basic allowance 1920
couples allowance 1950
30 hours work or more per week 790
family 545
each child 2555
TOTAL MAX ALLOWANCES ARE ALL THESE ADDED TOGETHER

next you have to guess how much you will earn as a family this year
then deduct the amount 6420

this figure is then known as the excess, this excess needs to be multiplied by 41%

deduct the 41% figure from the maximum and that is what you will get for the year

sounds complicated i know hope you can follow it, if not post again and i'll try to make it clearer

Right, after receiving the most bizarre letter from them this morning (me and the lady on the phone were giggling away as neither of us could work out the 5 ws for it) they have finally finalised my joint claim! Now, I'm pants at maths (particularly when it comes to percentages, I'm a languages lady!) so is there any chance you could help with the sums? It's really not straight forward, so no problems if not!

I worked 34 hours a week. It was a joint claim and my ex partner was not working. The claim began 19/06/10 and ended 26/11/10. My daughter was born 02/09/10. My earnings were £5837. I have received £470 of underpayment already which correlates to the potential payment on the original award. The lady on the phone thought there would be more as they had my income down as £10K.

Any ideas...and yes, I'm one desperate lady! Hopefully it won't be long until I know anyway, but due to my redundant status, I'm trying to plan my finances...not easy when you're pants at maths!!