Tax Credits Help Please

tashjam

Hi, can anyone help me please?
At the moment I work 18.5 hrs a week and get £125 my husband works 39 hrs a wk and gets £249 before deductions (tax, ni, csa) and get £50.13 a wk child tax credits as we have one child we get no other benefits eg council or rent.
Im thinking about giving up my job as I never get to see my son as when he comes home from school im at work and im only home for 30 mins before he has to go to bed, we are also trying for another child. Ive been on entitled to and put in my earnings whilst working and not working and it says we would get no extra help, so I guess what im asking is if I give up my job do tax credits still work it on last years earnings and would expect us to live on £125 a wk less?
Any help would be great
Thank You

fluffy70

dare I ask this (without being jumped on by everyone else)

you say that you work 18.5hrs for £500 a month and that your husband works full time for just under 1k a month - so your total income excluding tax credits is only £18k a year. If you then reduce your working hours to zero you will have a family of four on a salary of £18k? Has this been thought out? I'm not having a go, but I know from experience (my husband is self employed but has little or no work due to illness and therefore has no entitlement to benefits, and we live on a family income of £20k where I work full time, we have a 5 year old and it is HARD)

IMO I don't think that you are financially in a position to be trying for another child. Sorry.

tashjam

Hi Fluffy, every one is allowed opinions and yes I know it will be hard but we have been trying now for another child for 3 & 1/2 years and are now at last getting the help we need through doctors and fertility clinic (for checks and tablets not ivf) and im not going to turn this down as we have waited so long for it, which is why I was asking if I was to give up work in april so I could see more of my son, would tax credits from april still go on wages from 2012-2013 even though from 2013-2014 we would be 6.5k down. Im all for working but miss the time I should be spending with my son because for me 30 mins in the morn and 30 mins at night is not enough time at all.

FBaby

I'm confused. You work evenings? Then surely you have time to see your son in the morning for more than 30 mns, enough to play with him and interact all the way to school, and then enjoy some timefor yourself with no obligations...and that's not good enough?

tashjam

my son is 11 by the time were up dressed, ready and had breakfast its not long before he walks to school which is only 5 minutes away but he likes to leave early so he can play with his friends when he gets there. I only see him for around half hour at night because yes I work evenings so don't really get chance to help him with his homework, guitar practice and so on which most parents like to do and which I would like to do.

FBaby

He is 11? I thought you were talking about a 4 year old!!! What makes you think that he will want to spend all that spare time with you in the evenings?

I don't see my 13 yo at all in the morning (since she was 11), and in the evening, I sometimes don't see her at all because like most typical teenagers, she is not begging for spending time with me every day.

Surely if you are so desperate to spend more time with him, your priority should be to look for a daytime job since you don't need to care for him then rather than expecting to receive more tax credits just because you want to spend a bit more time with your almost teenage son.

dundeediva

If your income for 13-14 will be 6.5k lower, ctc will base payments on income 4k lower (they disregard the first 2.5k drop in income). So if your oh stays in his current job at the same rate your ctc will be based on income of about 15.5k so you won't see a massive difference to your payments. I don't think you would get additional help from anywhere if you voluntarily give up your job, especially if you aren't seeking other employment. I also wouldnt make a big decision like leaving a job on what benefits you get, rules are changing and you may find that what help you get now may not be available in a year or 2.

edit- re child being 11, since child is at school full time, could you not look for a job during the day? You have the opportunity to work 30 hrs a week (9-3 mon-fri) and be able to see child at all times except school hours?

tashjam

I would be looking for a daytime job, i am not one to sit on my backside all day and claim benefits i never have and never will, i was asking a simple question and then seem to get slated for wanting to spend time with my child, my husband works fulltime so rarely get to see him either. Jobs are not easy to come by so would not just give it up on a whim anyway.
Why is it so wrong to want to spend time with my family at night rather than not see them?

dundeediva

tashjam wrote: »

I would be looking for a daytime job, i am not one to sit on my backside all day and claim benefits i never have and never will, i was asking a simple question and then seem to get slated for wanting to spend time with my child, my husband works fulltime so rarely get to see him either. Jobs are not easy to come by so would not just give it up on a whim anyway.
Why is it so wrong to want to spend time with my family at night rather than not see them?

I didnt say you were looking to sit on your backside all day. I answered your simple question and where exactly in my post did i "slate you" for wanting to spend time with your child????? I didnt say it was wrong to want to spend time with your family and to be fair in you op you put you were "thinking about giving up my job as I never get to see my son". You didnt say you were looking for a different job.

maybe try not jumping down people's throats who are trying to help

FBaby

tashjam wrote: »

I would be looking for a daytime job, i am not one to sit on my backside all day and claim benefits i never have and never will, i was asking a simple question and then seem to get slated for wanting to spend time with my child, my husband works fulltime so rarely get to see him either. Jobs are not easy to come by so would not just give it up on a whim anyway.
Why is it so wrong to want to spend time with my family at night rather than not see them?

You're getting all confused. Your initial post was asking whether you could get more tax credits (which ARE benefits) if you quit your job, not asking about advice about increasing your chances to get a job during day times.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to spend more time with your son butit isn't right to expect tax payers to support you because you are chosing to give up a job because you suddenly want to spend more time with your son. I too want to spend more time with my children, but I accept that it's either that, or having to do with a lot less money, not having both my cake and eat it, so I make the best of the time we do have together and the money I get to make that time fun.

tashjam

Hi, sorry if my last message came over quite bad I really didn't mean to offend anyone and dundeediva thank you for answering the question I asked. I understand what you say fbaby about it being taxpayers money but in effect would I not just be getting back what ive paid into it for the last 17 yrs ive been working and the 19 yrs my husband has worked and still does work 39 hrs a wk plus overtime. I could understand more if we were both to give up work but were not, I was just thinking about giving up work so I could spend some time with my husband and son in the evenings and look for a daytime job.
fbaby yes he has just turned 11 but it would be nice to sit and have dinner with him at night and help with homework and things, I cant do it every weekend either as he goes to his dads every other weekend.
Thank you for your replies and again im sorry for the last message