MSE News: Families must prepare for tax credits cut

kev509

zagfles wrote: »

The "Working tax credit eligibility Maximum household income" table makes no sense at all!

ETA: just worked out it's based on max childcare costs and includes CTC.

is the income on these tables before or after tax ? does anybody know :j

kev509

benefit_advisor wrote: »

The goverment are always saying they intend to make people better off in work, no sign of it as yet
But packing work in would only mean a sanction

the government seem to make you better off in work just to get you in work,,,then they take it off you :rotfl:

Tessyt

Read the forum & no one has mentioned the earning disregards. Can anyone confirm if my experience/treatment is correct please?

Received a letter from tax credits in Feb 2012 saying that as mine & partners earning we're over the new 26k threshold circa £28336 that I would not be entitled to any tax credits for 2012/13. As I knew our earnings would drop by £3435 (seasonal earnings I had earned in a temporary role) I gave them a call & they said based on figs provided they would send out revised figs. Mid April revised calc arrived showed correct figs but entitlement to tax credits as nil. Confused I rang them and was told that although our new earnings of £25681 (£24901 + £780 in contribution based JSA) was below the 26k threshold we needed to satisfy another criteria which was earnings had to have dropped by £2500, after a quick mental calc I said but our earnings have dropped by more than £2500...£2655 to be exact. The adviser explained that the first £2500 of a drop is disregarded so the drop in earns is calculated as £155.....in fact as the drop is classed as less than £2500 then our earnings for 2011/12 will be used meaning we will not receive the £545 child tax credit I thought we were entitled to.

Also I have another quandary, I'm expecting our 2nd child on the 6th July and I believe the threshold increases to £32,200 but I'm not sure if the income disregards will prevent us being entitled again. Can anyone shed any light?

Thanks
Tess x

zagfles

Tessyt wrote: »

Read the forum & no one has mentioned the earning disregards. Can anyone confirm if my experience/treatment is correct please?

Received a letter from tax credits in Feb 2012 saying that as mine & partners earning we're over the new 26k threshold circa £28336 that I would not be entitled to any tax credits for 2012/13. As I knew our earnings would drop by £3435 (seasonal earnings I had earned in a temporary role) I gave them a call & they said based on figs provided they would send out revised figs. Mid April revised calc arrived showed correct figs but entitlement to tax credits as nil. Confused I rang them and was told that although our new earnings of £25681 (£24901 + £780 in contribution based JSA) was below the 26k threshold we needed to satisfy another criteria which was earnings had to have dropped by £2500, after a quick mental calc I said but our earnings have dropped by more than £2500...£2655 to be exact. The adviser explained that the first £2500 of a drop is disregarded so the drop in earns is calculated as £155.....in fact as the drop is classed as less than £2500 then our earnings for 2011/12 will be used meaning we will not receive the £545 child tax credit I thought we were entitled to.

Also I have another quandary, I'm expecting our 2nd child on the 6th July and I believe the threshold increases to £32,200 but I'm not sure if the income disregards will prevent us being entitled again. Can anyone shed any light?

Thanks
Tess x

The advisor was correct. You wouldn't have got any in any case as the cut off with 1 child is a bit below £26k (£25676), you definitely wouldn't have got anywhere near the £545 since there is no special threshold for the family element any more. That's why the limit is lower.

But when your new baby is born you will be entitled to some, give them a ring. About £32pw.

x_nemo_x

wondered if any one could help?

i work 35 hours a week partner is looking for work last year i earned £13797
the year before that was bout £10000 will i have to pay anything back.....
and does anyone know how much we would get we have a six year old son partner doesnt get any benifits says i earn to much

zagfles

x_nemo_x wrote: »

wondered if any one could help?

i work 35 hours a week partner is looking for work last year i earned £13797
the year before that was bout £10000 will i have to pay anything back.....
and does anyone know how much we would get we have a six year old son partner doesnt get any benifits says i earn to much

No you won't have an overpayment last year as you're in the disregard. Your WTC will drop this year after the renewal due to the higher income last year, about £1560 less over the year.

Anubis_2

andrew-b wrote: »

No. The disability element is for disabled workers only where the disabled worker is working 16 hours or more and deemed as at a disadvantage of getting a job.

The relevant changes to those with disabilities surround the number of working hours a couple must work in order to be entitled to ANY working tax credits. Where a person is disabled AND getting the disability element (because they are at a disadvantage getting a job) which means they MUST be working 16hours+, only 16+hours must be worked between the couple to be entitled to anything.

In our case as i am disabled and don't work as a couple we cannot claim the additional disability element BUT with the new rules rather than working 24 hours between us we only have to work 16.


More simply put, if your disabled the new 24 hour rule does not apply for those with children and your tax credits *SHOULD* be unaffected. For those without children if the person with the disability does not work the other person still has to work 30 hours (or only 16 if the worker is aged 60+).

I say *SHOULD* because tax credits office need to know that you are disabled via which benefits you receive.

As my experience shows TCO don't seem to understand the rules themselves (except maybe a few people and the one's i've "educated"!) due to the extra layer of complexity!! I think the coming year could be very messy!

The manager at TCO i spoke to at one point said to me "are you registered disabled?". Registering to be disabled is a voluntarily thing operated by some council social services departments these days - it is not a requirement! It just highlighted to me further the lack of understanding within the TCO.

The disability element can only be paid if the disabled person is working 16 hours or more, as I understand it, but the severe disability element does not require the person with the severe disability to be working, it can be the partner.

DLA care rate does count for WTC, as only those on HRC receive the severe disability element (either partner working.)

princessdon

Erm - you can work too?

I worked when I had my children?

harsh - yes - but you chose to have that many children and can't expect the state and tax payers to support them

Cut back on none essentials or get part time employment.

jellyhead

See if there's a local freecycle or freegle and ask if anyone has any baby stuff they don't need. It may also be worth looking on facebook for any car boot or selling groups on there.

When your baby is born you'll get extra child benefit. Your tax credits might increase too.

You could try putting a list of your income and outgoings somewhere on here and see if anyone has any suggestions. Do you have a lot of debt, or a high rent?

jellyhead

princessdon wrote: »

Erm - you can work too?

I worked when I had my children?

harsh - yes - but you chose to have that many children and can't expect the state and tax payers to support them

Cut back on none essentials or get part time employment.

If the children are young she might be worse off if she worked. It depends on the ages of the children I suppose, are they in school or would they need full time childcare? I couldn't afford childcare after I had my second child, so I didn't return to work.