Working Tax Credits question

cklass

My mum became ineligible for Child Tax Credits last August because my sister was starting university. When she informed the HMRC about this change, they told her that it also meant that her Working Tax Credits payments would stop because she had received all the tax credits she was entitled to for the tax year.

A couple of months ago, she received a letter asking her to check whether all the details the HMRC have about her and her income are correct, which she thought they had sent in place of the usual renewal form. It's only now that she's realised that she hasn't received any Working Tax Credits payments for the current tax year. When she called to enquire about this, she was told that they had completely ended her claim back in August when her circumstances had changed, and that the letter she had received was just to confirm her payments for the last tax year. She now has to reapply for Working Tax Credits, but she's lost 3 months of payments because of the backdating rules.

The person she spoke to couldn't really explain why a change that only affected her Child Tax Credits resulted in her claim for Working Tax Credits coming to an end, too. Can anyone shed any light on this? Is this normal practice?

davehughes182

As above, it depends on her circumstances. It sounds as if she may have been working under 30 hours a week and that would be the reason for the WTC ending at the time your sister when to Uni.

cklass

Sorry. She's 47, single, working 30 hours a week and she has no disabilities. She confirmed her hours when she informed them about my sister going to university. They also asked her to confirm her income. Everything about that phone call seemed to suggest that her WTC would be continuing.

The other reason why she had no reason to believe her WTC claim had ended was that she received a letter in October asking her to arrange repayments for an overpayment that had occurred a few years ago. The letter stated that they wouldn't reduce or stop tax credits payments to reclaim the money in case it causes financial hardship, which she assumed was reassurance that her payments would resume in the next tax year.