tax credits and apprenticeships

debnlee_2

hi, my 16yr old daughter has been lucky enough to get an apprenticeship she applied for, she is due to start it in September , she will go to college 3 days a week through the work place and will be in the work place for 2 days a week, she will get paid for this. am i right in thinking that i will lose all tax credits for her and child benefit will also be stopped. ???? if this is the case we will be down £75 ish a wk and are already on a low income , i will never stop her from doing this as at the end of it shes set up for life but things are going to be so tight. i have told her that if this is the case she will have to pay some board but this is in no way is going to make up for the money we will lose.

BigAunty

Around this time of year onwards, we get lots of posts like yours.

Yes, like the parents of many school leavers, you may lose child benefit and child tax credits, plus possibly experience a non-dependents deduction to housing benefit and council tax.

The HMRC website has information on what sort of apprenticeships and college courses are included/excluded for the purposes of tax credits.

This means the adults may experience large dip in income while the college funds, JSA or employment income of the now adult child must be used to plug the shortfall. Sometimes the loss of income to the adults is seen as greater than the adult child can afford directly to pay.

I suggest you model the scenario you've outlined on the Turn2us online benefit calculator which will take into account the change in status. Also, check the non-dependents deductions on the local council website to see if any apply to you, plus the HMRC website to determine her status.

You could also download the MSE budget planner and work out the impact on the household budget, plus make it easier to work through the site to identify where to make savings and increase income.