Child care tax credits

jjj1980

This has just happened to me as well! It works out that I have £20 per week less left after the childcare costs are paid.

Just in total figures, I was getting £257 per week TCS and paying £177 per week childcare. I will now get £198 TCS, with £138 weekly childcare costs.

I told them two days before the reduction came into place.

Icequeen99

amandabird170 wrote: »

Ummmmm, I'm now even more confused! My entitlement has dropped by 292.04 a year which equals 22.46 every 4 weeks, so why have my payments dropped by 140 every 4 weeks?!?

Are they not recovering the overpayment as well? Presumably you received the childcare element for quite a while, so that would be an overpayment, on top of your reduction going forward.

IQ

amandabird170

Icequeen99 wrote: »

Are they not recovering the overpayment as well? Presumably you received the childcare element for quite a while, so that would be an overpayment, on top of your reduction going forward.

IQ

But they haven't overpaid me as I told them the day my costs went down, they continue to pay at ur old rate for 4 weeks, so my new childcare costs came into affect on the 28th Jan (they told me this earlier).

jjj1980

Check your bank accounts as I've just spoken to Tax Credits and they said I would see an additional payment today that covers the amount I seemed to be down each week.

amandabird170

I've just spoken to them again, the r still saying they r right. They couldn't seem to understand what I was saying and just kept reading the figures off the award to me. It's ridiculous. I was hoping we'd b a bit better off now my dd is getting 15 hrs free at nursery but fat chance of that!
Jjj1980, I'm glad u sorted urs out.

Icequeen99

So you were only claiming £100 per year (i.e. £2 a week towards childcare)? I wouldn't expect to see much of a change to anything if that is the case.

Or did you mean that your award notice showed only £100 of WTC childcare element in the award?

What were your weekly childcare costs before the change and after?

IQ

amandabird170

I was paying 80 a wk childcare now I'm paying 35. I was receiving 100 a yr from tax credits towards it now 84.36.

FBaby

I remember being quite shocked when my youngest started school and childcare costs dropped down but still remained £350 a month with breakfast and afterschool clubs. I had assumed I would finally be better off, but as it was, I went from receiving 80% of my childcare cost to only getting £45 a month and so was worse off afterwards.

I have always been very grateful for tax credits as they allow me to go back to work full-time as a single mum and progress so that I am now not reliant on them at all (and almost done with childcare, only one more year at most of £130 a month), but I remember at the time feeling really deflated as I was working hard, whilst looking after my young kids full-time, and little left over at the end of the year, I thought things would get a bit better with them starting school. It would have helped if I'd looked into it in more depth so I would have been so dissapointed!

Icequeen99

amandabird170 wrote: »

I was paying 80 a wk childcare now I'm paying 35. I was receiving 100 a yr from tax credits towards it now 84.36.

Then something isn't right. If your award notice is showing some WTC childcare element then there should be no tapering of the CTC elements (i.e. your CTC shouldn't change).

Only if all of the WTC childcare element was gone (i.e. reduced to nil) would your CTC fall.

But the £140 per month seems roughly right. Your childcare has fallen by around £180 a month, 70% of which is around £130.

IQ

georgiasdragons

I've rang just as its almost 30 days and not heard and supposed to have award within 30 days

My fees reduced from 115 to 52 a week 5 weeks ago my tax credits are reducing by 320 a month however I will get a lump in my bank Monday of 220£.

You may have received a small lump some and thus is why payments are adjusted.

I'm very grateful for it every little helps even though I appear to be also worse off