widowed parents allowance/tax credits

sinking12

i recently lost my wife and have been awarded widowed parents allowance because of my age and my childrens ages ,do i tell the tax credit people about this award as i also get child tax credit and working tax credit or will they already have been informed by the awarding body (works & pensions) and will this award effect my tax credit payments ??
cheers

shedboy94

Widowed parents allowance is taken account for tax credit purposes, so it has to be declared. Without knowing any of your personal circumstances it is impossible to say what effect this may have on your benefits.

jaffa_cake__

They should have received a prompt. But I would give them a ring to be on the safe side.

sinking12

am i right in thinking that the dept of works & pensions will pass this on anyway as they work in tandem with each other

jaffa_cake__

They would, but the DWP and HMRC are two different departments so I always ask customers to give them a quick ring themselves just to avoid any overpayment.

Icequeen99

sinking12 wrote: »

am i right in thinking that the dept of works & pensions will pass this on anyway as they work in tandem with each other

Sorry to hear about the loss of your wife.

No, WPA is not something that is notified to HMRC for tax credits purposes as far as I am aware. DLA and AA yes, but not WPA.

The other thing is that WPA is a taxable benefit, and so depending on any other income you have you may need to look at whether your tax liability increases.

I would ring the helpline and report the income if it makes a different in the current year.



IQ

sinking12

been advised today that widowed parents allowance is classed as other income for tax credit purposes ,,,does this sound right to anyone ,just want to make sure they get it right and i get no nasty suprises

Icequeen99

sinking12 wrote: »

been advised today that widowed parents allowance is classed as other income for tax credit purposes ,,,does this sound right to anyone ,just want to make sure they get it right and i get no nasty suprises

Yes, confirmed in the notes on Page 8 http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/tc600-notes.pdf

It means you can disregard the first £300.

IQ

Willow_wish

So sorry to hear of your loss, and I can relate (lost my husband almost 2 years ago). Financially it can be a mine field with all the emotions too, but hang in there! I have made some great new friends through http://www.wayfoundation.org.uk/Screen/Home.aspx and we all help each other through the minefield (finance advice, emotions or just a general lets go and have a good day together time). When you are ready, do consider joining xx