birthday of 16 yr old child causes tax credit decrease

dimples666

Hi
My son turns 16 in July and i just heard from child tax credits that my benefit will be reduced significantly because of this. he is still in full time education, is there anything else we can claim to bring the amount back up. Surely he must or i must be entitled to something to keep him. i am disabled and so get employment support allowance does this go up?
I cannot pay my bills without this income and am terrified

nannytone_2

if he is staying in full time education, then you will still be entitled to ctc and child benefit for him.

just to point out though .... at some time these benefits WILL stop and now is the time that you should be preparing for when that happens

dimples666

yeah but i wont need to support him then as he will be entitled to something within his own right or be in employment, he is 6ft 9 and size 15 feet he eats twice what i eat so he is expensive to keep and clothe.

if he is staying in full time education, then you will still be entitled
to ctc and child benefit for him.

why has CTC written to me and told me i wont be entitled to it then if its going to continue. From September this year all school leavers must continue on into some form of full time education whether is college or work placed edducation its still education

nannytone_2

because he CAN leave school at the end of this term. many 16 tear olds do leave school.
it is upto the parent to advise HMTC what their child intends to do... they dont just keep paying if they dont know if the child is in education or not

Horseunderwater

The new staying in school rules has nothing to do with Tax credit rules.
It has always been this way. The rule is that when your children reach 16 years old, that TC's will cease on the 31st August following their 16th birthday. This is stated on every single award notice and has been since the thing was brought in during 2003/4. (The fact that no one seems to be able to read that bit amazes me.) Not having a go at anyone - just pointing it out. So you need to ring them up and advise them that your child will be continuing in Further non advanced education beyond the 31st August. I would do it after the 31st July myself as that is when renewals are supposed to be done and dusted so in theory less busy.

dimples666

Thanks
But Nanny you are wrong, from this year they cant leave full time education till 18, they are not allowed to work unless its an apprenticeship, my son is the first year this will happen to 16 year olds.
Maybe the benefits ppl just havent caught up to the new rules so thanks i will be in touch with them and se what they say

patchwork_cat

dimples666 wrote: »

Thanks
But Nanny you are wrong, from this year they cant leave full time education till 18, they are not allowed to work unless its an apprenticeship, my son is the first year this will happen to 16 year olds.
Maybe the benefits ppl just havent caught up to the new rules so thanks i will be in touch with them and se what they say

Actually it is the end of the academic year that you turn 17. It rises to 18 next year. It can be part time education or an apprenticeship or full tine education, so tax credits will need to know if he is carrying on, as if I recollect do child benefit.

stroptart

Horseunderwater is right.
Tax Credits and Child Benefit presume a child leaves education at the end of the academic year that they turn 16. Regardless of the new rules, this is still the case.
You have to tell TC and CB that your son is still in education, I think they ask what course he is doing and where he is studying.
If you tell them before the end of August, you should find your payment for TC drops in the first week of September if you're due then, then you'll normally get an extra payment once things recalculate, and things will be roughly back to normal after that.
Sometimes, you don't get the extra payment, and the difference is added in to the payments for the rest of the year, so be prepared for the lower payment either way.
Hope this helps.

Dunroamin

dimples666 wrote: »

Thanks
But Nanny you are wrong, from this year they cant leave full time education till 18, they are not allowed to work unless its an apprenticeship, my son is the first year this will happen to 16 year olds.
Maybe the benefits ppl just havent caught up to the new rules so thanks i will be in touch with them and se what they say

Young people will be able to work when the rule changes but a substantial amount of training (equivalent to one day a week, I think) must be involved.

[Deleted User]

Last year my son's CTC stopped on 31st August because he had turned 16. When he had been accepted for Sixth Form I was told to not ring up until he started this academic because Tax Credits would only change on the day he started which was about 20th September. Of course, it took a couple more weeks for the increase to be processed. So I was paying out more on a lot less for a few weeks.

The mess this cuased when I had to pay for a travelcard, books, new school clothes etc was unbelievable. But nothing I could do.

I would advise you to start saving now, otherwise it'll be a nightmare.

missapril75

dimples666 wrote: »

Maybe the benefits ppl just havent caught up to the new rules

It's another example of mistakes made by government. "Benefits people" - generally DWP (previously DSS) - were fully aware of this sort of thing.

The problem arose when the payment of "benefits" was handed over to the non benefit paying entity otherwise known as the Tax department; a department more geared up to collecting funds rather than the complications involved in paying them out.

DSS/DWP used to ask if a child was continuing in education and continue paying. That worked well enough.