Carer's Allowance & Earnings

~Chameleon~

I'm aware someone in receipt of CA is allowed to earn up to £100 per week, after expenses. What I'm uncertain of is what happens if those earnings go a few pounds over. Is the excess deducted from CA or is the entire amount of CA lost for that particular week?

kingfisherblue

You have to declare any weeks that you go over the limit and you lose the full amount.

~Chameleon~

kingfisherblue wrote: »

You have to declare any weeks that you go over the limit and you lose the full amount.

So, if for example, you were to earn £110 one particular week, you'd lost almost £60 in CA? That seems a bit harsh!

[Deleted User]

harsh but true

bloolagoon

Remember the £100 in net of expenses and NI, childcare and certain other allowances.

~Chameleon~

bloolagoon wrote: »

Remember the £100 in net of expenses and NI, childcare and certain other allowances.

Do you know what those allowances might be?

mikey_bach

If you are in paid work (including self employment) you cannot get Carer’s Allowance if you earn more than the earnings limit of £100 a week.
The following amounts are deducted from your gross weekly earnings before your earnings are taken into account for Carer’s Allowance:

• Income Tax
• National Insurance
• half your contributions towards an occupational/personal pension.

If you are self-employed, you can also first deduct expenses that are incurred ‘wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business’, in the same way that you can for income tax purposes.
If you have to pay for someone to look after the person you care for whilst you are at work you can also deduct those payments from your earnings up to the value of half your earnings (after the above deductions if they apply).
However, this will not apply if the person you are paying is a close relative of either yourself or the person you care for if they are 16 or over. A "close relative" is a spouse, civil partner, partner, parent, son, daughter, brother or sister.
Occupational or personal pensions do not count as earnings and you can be paid Carer’s Allowance in addition to these.
If you do receive taxable income such as an occupational or private pension or part-time earnings, you should inform the tax office about your Carer's Allowance. This is because Carer's Allowance is a taxable benefit.

~Chameleon~

mikey_bach wrote: »

If you have to pay for someone to look after the person you care for whilst you are at work you can also deduct those payments from your earnings up to the value of half your earnings (after the above deductions if they apply).

However, this will not apply if the person you are paying is a close relative of either yourself or the person you care for if they are 16 or over. A "close relative" is a spouse, civil partner, partner, parent, son, daughter, brother or sister.

Do you know how the above works? I understand a close relative can't be paid to care but does this mean employing a professional carer or would a friend/neighbour qualify? What sort of proof of payment will be required? Would you have to register as an employer to pay a carer?

Aplogies for all the questions but I have no experience or knowledge of how CA works

rogerblack

If you have an appropriate pension that you can pay money into, then you can pay twice the difference between your income and £100 (after expenses) into that, and qualify.
If you have an income of £109, and pay in £20 to a pension, then your income for CA purposes will be £99

~Chameleon~

rogerblack wrote: »

If you have an appropriate pension that you can pay money into, then you can pay twice the difference between your income and £100 (after expenses) into that, and qualify.
If you have an income of £109, and pay in £20 to a pension, then your income for CA purposes will be £99

No pension currently paid into. The person in receipt of CA only works a few hours a week due to caring responsibilities but has the opportunity to do some extra work over the summer which would take their earnings over the permitted amount at times.

A neighbour/friend often provides care for a few hours per week when necessary in return for either cash payment or wine/chocolates etc. This would become more frequent over the summer whilst carer is working but how would they go about proving how much has been paid in wages?

bigbill

Your allowed a 4 week break in caring in every 26 week period when you can earn over the normal £100 weekly limit and remain entitled to carer.

So if your earnings increase over the £100 limit for under 4 weeks during the summer your sorted so no change, and again at xmas time the same would apply.