Child Tax Credits - Change of Circumstances help

AyeReady1985

Hi all,

I work full time with an annual salary of £16400.00. My wife is currently unemployed, she was made redundant shortly before she fell pregnant with our son and she was unable to find another job. She currently receives £540.00 maternity allowance per month which will run out in January 2013.

When we filled out the application form for Child Tax Credits we put in my salary from April 11-12 and my wifes salary form April 11-12 together with a small sum she received in JSA for this same period. They used these figures to calculate our monthly CTC's which is £40.00.

My question is this, in January when we stop receiving MA can we call the Tax Credits people and advise of a change of circumstances given that MA was not included when competed our application form was completed? Or will we have to wait until we can reapply at the end of the tax year in April?

Any help/comments appreciated.

benefitbaby

Although technically you don't need to report the MA award/end until your renewal I would advise doing so. This is because....

From HMRC tax credit website:
You might start getting a pension, for example, which increases your income. Or you might lose your job, meaning your income goes down.
When you know your income is changing, tell the Tax Credit Office as soon as possible. Get in touch as soon as you can. If the change means your tax credits go down, you could be building up an overpayment which you may have to pay back.

snowfairy84

i didnt think u had to declare JSA when claiming but yes i would advise of change of circumstance how will she be supported financially after the MA runs out?

taxi36

AyeReady1985 wrote: »

She currently receives £540.00 maternity allowance per month which will run out in January 2013.

.

I didnt think you had to tell tax credits about income you were getting from maternity allowance? I know you have to tell them about statutory maternity pay from your Employer minus £100 per week but I thought that actual maternity allowance paid by DWP was ignored?

Am I wrong? I have never told tax credits how much maternity allowance I received.:eek:

AyeReady1985

snowfairy84 wrote: »

i didnt think u had to declare JSA when claiming but yes i would advise of change of circumstance how will she be supported financially after the MA runs out?

I have no idea what we will do when MA runs out. She apparently wont be able to claim JSA as her contributions have run out and we dont qualify for income support, housing benefit etc so who knows what we will do. If my wife went back to work we would need to get full time childcare and the cost of this would probably wipe out any earnings my wife would make.

What I dont get is when you apply for tax credits they base any award on your earnings over the previous year, however if your circumstances change dramatically which in our case they have they dont appear to take this into account. I might send them a letter explaining the situation and asking for advice on what to do.

shedboy94

Phone the helpline and provide an estimate of income for 12-13 and the award will be re-assessed on your current income. Mat allowance is not classed as income so shouldn't be declared.

zagfles

snowfairy84 wrote: »

i didnt think u had to declare JSA when claiming but yes i would advise of change of circumstance how will she be supported financially after the MA runs out?

You have to declare contribution based JSA (usually), but not income based, see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/TCTM04400.htm

zagfles

AyeReady1985 wrote: »

I have no idea what we will do when MA runs out. She apparently wont be able to claim JSA as her contributions have run out and we dont qualify for income support, housing benefit etc so who knows what we will do. If my wife went back to work we would need to get full time childcare and the cost of this would probably wipe out any earnings my wife would make.

What I dont get is when you apply for tax credits they base any award on your earnings over the previous year, however if your circumstances change dramatically which in our case they have they dont appear to take this into account. I might send them a letter explaining the situation and asking for advice on what to do.

They take changes this year into account if your income goes up more than £10k or down more than £2500. You can give them an estimate if this is the case, but be warned that if your estimate is too low you'll have an overpayment.