TC childcare - unfair £10/week increase rule

chiefnoodle

dippy3103 wrote: »

So, what if your childcare costs went down £10 a week? Is it still unfair if you get extra?

Yes, HMRC would be entitled to change the rule on the basis its not fair. However as it was them who made the rule, its hard to see how they could complain about it. From my point of view, if I ring and tell them the costs went down by <£10/week and they say well we'll pay you the old amount, I'm not going to complain am I.

dippy3103

So you accept that some people gain from it?

chiefnoodle

dippy3103 wrote: »

So you accept that some people gain from it?

yes I accept that - but that doesn't make it fair for those who lose from it...

Icequeen99

You should technically recalculate your childcare costs at the start of the next tax year when you do your renewal because it is a new claim so that would be a chance to change it.

However, HMRC staff would still probably refuse and it would need a long drawn out appeal to a Tribunal to probably convince them.

IQ

[Deleted User]

Darksparkle wrote: »

I have never heard of this before.

I have not claimed the childcare element for a few years now but yes it c an be amended as part of the renewal process.


The renewal shows you what information your claim is based on and is this still correct? Well the answer is no its not correct, so you phone them up and they change it.


Very frustrating as School clubs tend to put prices up in September and you can't change it until April.

Icequeen99

Deleted_User wrote: »

I have not claimed the childcare element for a few years now but yes it c an be amended as part of the renewal process.


The renewal shows you what information your claim is based on and is this still correct? Well the answer is no its not correct, so you phone them up and they change it.


Very frustrating as School clubs tend to put prices up in September and you can't change it until April.

It is for the reason I outlined in my earlier post - because of the way the regulations are worded and each year is a brand new tax credit claim.

IQ

Darksparkle

Deleted_User wrote: »

I have not claimed the childcare element for a few years now but yes it c an be amended as part of the renewal process.


The renewal shows you what information your claim is based on and is this still correct? Well the answer is no its not correct, so you phone them up and they change it.


Very frustrating as School clubs tend to put prices up in September and you can't change it until April.

Think there might be some confusion. You can change your childcare costs at any time. If they increase in Sept you can call in Sept, you don't need to wait until April. If you do you will lose out because it cannot be backdated more than one month.

However the issue here is that the costs hasn't increased by more than £10 per week so they won't update it.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/tax-credits-technical-manual/tctm02660

[Deleted User]

Darksparkle wrote: »

Think there might be some confusion. You can change your childcare costs at any time. If they increase in Sept you can call in Sept, you don't need to wait until April. If you do you will lose out because it cannot be backdated more than one month.

However the issue here is that the costs hasn't increased by more than £10 per week so they won't update it.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/tax-credits-technical-manual/tctm02660

Yes I agree. What I am saying is if they only increase by say £5 per week, the OP seems to have been told this can never be changed. Well it can but only at renewal time.

Icequeen99

Darksparkle wrote: »

Think there might be some confusion. You can change your childcare costs at any time. If they increase in Sept you can call in Sept, you don't need to wait until April. If you do you will lose out because it cannot be backdated more than one month.

However the issue here is that the costs hasn't increased by more than £10 per week so they won't update it.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/tax-credits-technical-manual/tctm02660

The link you give is to Section 16 of the Regs which covers changes in circumstances. But as Joanne says, when you get to the end of the year and then start a new tax year/new claim the £10 rule doesn't apply and you start again as far as childcare costs are concerned so at that point they should be calculated under Regulation 15.

IQ

Darksparkle

Icequeen99 wrote: »

The link you give is to Section 16 of the Regs which covers changes in circumstances. But as Joanne says, when you get to the end of the year and then start a new tax year/new claim the £10 rule doesn't apply and you start again as far as childcare costs are concerned so at that point they should be calculated under Regulation 15.

IQ

I thought she was referring to all changes. That's why I was clarifying.