SAYE scheme and free share vs Tax Credits...very confused please help!

mcmuffin

My OH puts money into a SAYE scheme with Tesco, last year in June he received his first lump sum from selling the shares he gets from saving, this March he received his second; so two this tax year.

What do we need to declare to tax credits??

To date we have never declared his SAYE scheme as when I asked tax credits about it in previous years they seemed to think it doesn't affect anything...but surely it does??

Also, he receives free shares each year but for a few years these are untouchable/unavailable. Should I have declared these in the past or do I only need to declare the ones that have now become available?

Any help and advice would be very appreciated as I've got a horrible feeling this SAYE scheme is going to prove to be a lot more trouble than it's worth!

Thanks

Housing_Benefit_Officer

mcmuffin wrote: »

My OH puts money into a SAYE scheme with Tesco, last year in June he received his first lump sum from selling the shares he gets from saving, this March he received his second; so two this tax year.

What do we need to declare to tax credits??

To date we have never declared his SAYE scheme as when I asked tax credits about it in previous years they seemed to think it doesn't affect anything...but surely it does??

Also, he receives free shares each year but for a few years these are untouchable/unavailable. Should I have declared these in the past or do I only need to declare the ones that have now become available?

Any help and advice would be very appreciated as I've got a horrible feeling this SAYE scheme is going to prove to be a lot more trouble than it's worth!

Thanks

For Housing Benefits we add back on the SAYE to the net wages as we don't count it as a deduction and any shares we treat as capital.

mcmuffin

Should I have already been adding on the SAYE for previous years (as I tried to do over the phone but was told i didn't need to) or should I just be adding on the lump sums each year we receive them (in the case of 2012-2013 that's two payments as he was late receiving his first one).

Thanks for your help!

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Tax Credit guidance notes state:-

What else to include
As well as your total pay, you need to add:
tips - if they were not included in your taxable pay
money you got because your job ended or changed, and which was taxed
strike pay from your trade union
money you made from stocks and shares that you got from your employment
payments for any work you did whilst serving a sentence in prison or on remand
You don't need to show any tax credits from last year.

Best to speak to HMRC for clarification as, if am correct, you pay for the shares via SAYE so they aren't given as gifts?

mcmuffin

He gets given free shares as a "gift" too which until this year have been unavailable to him so I was assuming I'd definitely have to declare the ones that have become available this year but never thought to declare the others as they were unavailable.

As for the SAYE yes the shares are purchased with the money in the SAYE (you have the option to have the same money back that you put in or transfer it into shares at the current price, whichever the greater).

I'm worried I've messed up our tax credits for the last 4 years and I might be about to open a big can of worms with HMRC!

Unfortunately his store don't have a personnel manager at the moment else I'd be sending him to talk to them and find out the ins and outs!

compoff

No, you will only declare them when he physically gets a return from them. So, nothing to worry about for the previous years, if he did not get an actual return (income) from them.

mcmuffin

Thanks compoff, I got him to phone TCs when I was at work yesterday and they confirmed what you said, they only wanted to know the exact figures that went in his bank and the date for each payment.

I'm still worried it's not right but I got him to write down the time & date off the call so that if it ever does come back to bite us on the bum we can at least say he spoke to them about it all (he had to be put on hold by the guy whilst he talked it through with a supervisor as he said it was a "grey area").