New rules for working tax???

zagfles

adewolves wrote: »

We got the letter today as well. I don't work and my wife works 16 hours a week so we won't be entitled to working tax credit anymore from what I can gather. The only other benefits we get are child tax credit and child benefit. We will be nearly £72.00 a week worse off, surely there must be something else we can claim, if we can't we wouldn't be able to survive. Any advice would be most welcome.

If you're renting you could get housing benefit/LHA. Whether you rent or own you could get council tax benefit.

FBaby

It was about time!! How could a couple be entitled to work a total of 16 hours between the two, but be left with probably a better disposable income than a couple where both are working full-time once childcare for say two children is paid????

As for the statement about not finding work, isn't it a bit premature to already assume that it will be a problem? Those people who do have a job working over 24 hours or two jobs to make these hours up and more have been there fighting for these jobs. They didn't fall in their hands. How many actually trully bother looking for extra hours when they get tax credits to boost their income? The announcemement is leaving 4 months for those affected to look for an extra 8 hours work. That is not an impossible mission for one who trully tries hard and intends on finding extra hours work.

neverdespairgirl

lin473 wrote: »

A thread like this is bound to bring the benefit bashers out of the woodwork but it is not always as black and white as you think.

I don't think that thinking 24 hours a week between two adults is a reasonable amount of work is "benefit bashers", myself.

Fiver29

FBaby wrote: »

It was about time!! How could a couple be entitled to work a total of 16 hours between the two, but be left with probably a better disposable income than a couple where both are working full-time once childcare for say two children is paid????

As for the statement about not finding work, isn't it a bit premature to already assume that it will be a problem? Those people who do have a job working over 24 hours or two jobs to make these hours up and more have been there fighting for these jobs. They didn't fall in their hands. How many actually trully bother looking for extra hours when they get tax credits to boost their income? The announcemement is leaving 4 months for those affected to look for an extra 8 hours work. That is not an impossible mission for one who trully tries hard and intends on finding extra hours work.

Longer than that. It's 4 months from now, but it's been known about for months already.

BigAunty

Fiver29 wrote: »

Longer than that. It's 4 months from now, but it's been known about for months already.

Boy, is this benefit board going into melt down next April, or what?!

jojo_2012_2

How does this apply to single parents who currently only have to work 16hrs to qualify?

BigAunty

jojo_2012 wrote: »

How does this apply to single parents who currently only have to work 16hrs to qualify?

I don't believe so - here is a link to the full changes

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcreditsbudget/index.htm

MacMickster

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I don't think that thinking 24 hours a week between two adults is a reasonable amount of work is "benefit bashers", myself.

The idea of Working Tax Credit was to encourage people to work (the clue is in the title). Perversely however, it encouraged them to work only a little, and not a lot. The amount of work required for that benefit reward has now been increased a little. This is not unreasonable, but should have been given a great deal more publicity. I suspect that the required hours will continue to increase in the future, so that there is a much greater financial difference between working and not working.

This increase in required hours is likely to be very unpopular with employers. Paying an employee for 16 hours at minimum wage meant that they didn't have to pay employer's national insurance contributions and probably wouldn't have to administer the deduction of tax under PAYE. There has been a ready pool of people to take these jobs which are effectively subsidised by taxpayers.

flight747

It seem very fair for couples to work at least 24 hours together to claim WTC, or one of them had to work at least 24 hours a week is the right direction.

Single parent (lone parent) can carry on WTC with 16 hours a week if no couples in the household.

Also the Government to be freeze both WTC and CTC including CB rates next April 2012, instead they going to increase 5% on pensions, JSA and ESA.

meemo38

I dont know why they dont 'encourage' workers by rewarding more money for the more hours you earn:D