Tax credits payments keep changing

Loopy1

I can't get my head around this.

Up to May 2015 I was in a part time job. Then I got a full time job £10k more. I informed Tax credits straight away and my payments dropped as expected. Then in Oct 2015 the payments dropped almost in half. I rang up and was informed it was due to my pay increase in May and they only drop it by a bit to start???!!I had no paperwork received to back this up.

Anyway forward to tax renewal pack, it asks for P60. Well as this the 2015-16 period and I only started new job in May it is £5k less then my current annual salary. They have now increased my monthly payments by double?? Then to top it they have put a lump sump in (quite considerable) into my account today presumably an underpayment?

I renewed online and have had no paperwork. I hate ringing up as they really dont make it easy to understand.

So are they giving me an underpayment as they are now working from my P60 instead of my current salary? Do I enjoy the money or will I end up paying this all back next year?

Icequeen99

Loopy1 wrote: »

I can't get my head around this.

Up to May 2015 I was in a part time job. Then I got a full time job £10k more. I informed Tax credits straight away and my payments dropped as expected. Then in Oct 2015 the payments dropped almost in half. I rang up and was informed it was due to my pay increase in May and they only drop it by a bit to start???!!I had no paperwork received to back this up.

Anyway forward to tax renewal pack, it asks for P60. Well as this the 2014-15 period and I only started new job in May it is £5k less then my current annual salary. They have now increased my monthly payments by double?? Then to top it they have put a lump sump in (quite considerable) into my account today presumably an underpayment?

I renewed online and have had no paperwork. I hate ringing up as they really dont make it easy to understand.

So are they giving me an underpayment as they are now working from my P60 instead of my current salary? Do I enjoy the money or will I end up paying this all back next year?

But the tax credit renewal pack was asking for 15/16 not 14/15 - did you give them the wrong figure?

IQ

Loopy1

sorry I edited post I did give the correct figures yes (I meant 2015/16)

Icequeen99

When you gave them the estimated income in May 2015, did you include the full 10k increase?

I am struggling to understand how half of that (5k) is not taken into account given you were in the new job for at least 10 months of the new tax year (possibly more).

Did you give your P60 figure for the new job plus the P45 figure from the old job?

What were the actual figures for 14/15 and 15/16 and what is your 16/17 estimate?

IQ

Loopy1

Hiya
My P60 is in front of me it says £21,381 this employment (current job) and £501 previous. (I left last job 31st March so had nearly 2 months unemployed so as tax year runs from 1st April my last job doesn't come into it).

Total £21,882 which is the figure I put on the renewal pack.

I haven't given a 16/17 estimate but my salary is £26k and I rang this through in May 2016 to tax credits office so they would know this. I started new job 26th May so yes 10 months employment.

P60 13/14 = £16447, P6O 14/15 = £16283, P60 15/16 = £21,381
predicted P60 16/17 = £26000

Darksparkle

Loopy1 wrote: »

Hiya
My P60 is in front of me it says £21,381 this employment (current job) and £501 previous. (I left last job 31st March so had nearly 2 months unemployed so as tax year runs from 1st April my last job doesn't come into it).

Total £21,882 which is the figure I put on the renewal pack.

I haven't given a 16/17 estimate but my salary is £26k and I rang this through in May 2016 to tax credits office so they would know this. I started new job 26th May so yes 10 months employment.

P60 13/14 = £16447, P6O 14/15 = £16283, P60 15/16 = £21,381
predicted P60 16/17 = £26000

May 2015 or May 2016? You mention both. Or did you call on both occasions?

Icequeen99

I suspect we won't be able to get to the bottom of this. You need to go back and look over the award notices and speak to the helpline.

You said in May 15 that when you reported your new income your payments fell as expected - but your rise was only just over £5000 more than 14/15 therefore it would have only made a tiny difference to your payments.

The reason given for the October fall is wrong - do you have an overpayment from a previous year you are paying back or from an old claim?

None of the figures you are given support an underpayment situation so something is wrong.

You need to wait for your final award notice and go through it all very carefully and compare it to earlier notices.

IQ

Loopy1

my salary went from my £16k to a new job of salary £26k. I rang them in May 2015 (not 2016 sorry) to inform them of this. Its just this years P60 gives a figure of £21k so the difference is about £5k increase.

The payments reducing in October threw me completely and the response from help line didn't make sense.

I'll wait for the paperwork but I suspect I won't be able to make sense of it.

Thank you for your help

Darksparkle

You need to call them to tel them you expect to earn £26,000 this year.

Icequeen99

Loopy1 wrote: »

my salary went from my £16k to a new job of salary £26k. I rang them in May 2015 (not 2016 sorry) to inform them of this. Its just this years P60 gives a figure of £21k so the difference is about £5k increase.

The payments reducing in October threw me completely and the response from help line didn't make sense.

I'll wait for the paperwork but I suspect I won't be able to make sense of it.

Thank you for your help

Maybe what happened is that in May 15 when you told them about the new job they used the 26k figure - then that created an overpayment which dropped your payments. But when you declared your actual income, they owed you money back.

As I say you need to check your award notices and as DS says you need to tell them about the 26k this year.

IQ