IB to self employment & WTC

freyasmummy

Hi everyone

I need some advice with regards to leaving IB to go self employed and claiming WTC.

For the past couple of years my husband who is self employed has been claiming wtc, he works 30 hours a week and gets about £40 a week WTC

I currently receive IB but this will be stopping soon as i'm better and I will be returning to be self employed working hopefully 20 hours per week, i've been told that i'll be able to claim wtc too so the claim would go to a joint one.

My question is, when the claim goes to a joint one does it then cut my husband's allowance? I've tried to do the calculators but all I seem to come up with is an added £15ish to the wtc claim a week which is scaring me as I currently receive just over £100 a week IB and i'm wondering how I will make up the difference.

Any advice would be greatly welcomed

Hammyman

The WTC claim has always been a joint one. As a couple you cannot make a claim as an individual.

salau2

For working tax credits it depends on circumstances for example, if you are aged 50 or over you may be entitled to the 50+ element. The claim must be made as a couple (as it should be now) and you are both legally obliged to inform HMRC of any change of circumstances which could affect your claim. They will then send you a revised breakdown of entitlement. You will have 30 days to appeal a decision. You should see a CAB advisor or welfare rights officer for a ‘what if claulcation’.

jetplane

As hammyman said you already have a joint claim and this is just a change in income and if its based on last years income then you can earn more than £10000 without affecting your WTC. It may be that once your IB is no longer included and by the time you take off start up costs your entitlement of WTC may increase but this would need to be offset against any disabilty on the WTC allowance. And any payment would probably be retained until the end of the tax year.

As for making up your £100 IB thats not really going to happen like for like especially as you are self employed. However if your on IB you must have been on long term so you can access the return to work credit of £40 per week for 52 weeks. This is as long as you work more than 16 hours and earn less than £15,000. It is tax free and ignored for tax credits. You will need to show them your quartely accounts.

I think a better off calculation would be beneficial as self employed income is hard to predict and the tax credit elements would need to be checked.

Hammyman

Forgot to say last night....

Congratulations on getting better to the point you feel you can start working again, no matter how limited it may be.

dmliverpool

They do tend to not pay as much on joint claims as two individuals claims. This is the case with JSA IB. I would get a better off calculation as stated earlier. Also as being self employed myself I would advise you to keep full and accurate records of receipts, invoices/contracts and bank statements showing money you have earned. etc and set up a direct debit to pay NI contr. to stay on top of it. It helps when doing a tax return. I any case well done!!!

freyasmummy

Thank you all for your replies. The wheels are now in motion with regards to my change of income so I should know soon exactly how much the wtc claim will change by soon. It sounds silly but I am so excited to be able to return to work and hopefully i'll be well enough to work more hours and not have to claim anything, which would just be lovely after having that stigma of "scrounging" for the last couple of years

bigbill

Have you thought about permitted work first?

Hammyman

Also Return To Work Credit if its still on the go. £40 a week tax free for a year and it isn't counted as income for Tax Credits.