Can you claim tax credits when married but not working

CraigS1974

I'd like a little bit of advice.

My sister got married earlier this year and she is working, but her husband is unemployed.

He currently signs for tax credits but is he still allowed to do this, or should he be signing for Job Seekers allowance now?

blondie1975

Has he told tax credits he is no longer single? Tax credits and JSA are 2 separate things, you can claim both at the same time (depending on your circumstances) but his first step should be to tell tax credits that he needs to stop his single claim and make a new joint one.

CraigS1974

I'm not sure if he has or hasn't told tax credit people he is now married.

I'm sure I read somewhere that you could only claim credits for so many months before claiming JSA

pmlindyloo

CraigS1974 wrote: »

I'm not sure if he has or hasn't told tax credit people he is now married.

I'm sure I read somewhere that you could only claim credits for so many months before claiming JSA

Something is wrong here

Please tell us the exact circumstances.

Child tax credits can be claimed when you have children - you do not have to be working.

Working tax credits can only be claimed when you are working and depend on how many hours you work and how much you earn.

So, if your brother in law was not working when he was single (unless he had children) then he should not have been claiming working tax credits.

Now he is married they can put in a claim for working tax credits if they meet the criteria for the number of hours and the amount they have as income.

So.......... for further help.............

Any children?
How old are your sister and her husband? How many hours does your sister work? How much does she earn?

We can tackle the question of JSA once we know all the circumstances.

CraigS1974

Before they were married they had a joint claim last year for JSA, my sister then got a job which is about 35 hours a week so he then wqas told to claim tax credits. Husband is 34 and sister is 32 and they have no children

pmlindyloo

OK have just read a previous thread of yours.

Is this the sister who was living with her boyfriend and they were both claiming JSA?

And your sister got a job and then applied for working tax credits?

So her now husband wasn't entitled to JSA because she was working so he was signing on for National Insurance credits?

Edit: Crossed posts so I was right. Now what is your question?

CraigS1974

My question is that now my sister is working and they have been married since the start of September can the now husband still claim these credits, or after so long does he have to then go on to JSA?

pmlindyloo

CraigS1974 wrote: »

My question is that now my sister is working and they have been married since the start of September can the now husband still claim these credits, or after so long does he have to then go on to JSA?

Your sister's husband cannot claim JSA because your sister's income is taken into account when they assess as to whether he is eligible for JSA. They always take the household income into account as they assume that they support each other financially. That is the system.

He can continue to claim his NI credits while he is unemployed.

Hope that helps.