We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
TAX Credits help!!

miserableindebt
Posts: 154 Forumite
Hi everyone. I wonder if you can help me.
I have an autistic daughter who is 18. She is meant to be going to college in September and we are getting support with that. She has separation anxiety and doesn't want to leave me, and having left school and having friends who looked after her there, to going to a strange environment with no friends is very stressful for her.
The Tax Credits are aware that she has a place for College in September, so I am still receiving them.
She should have gone in 2 days this week for "taster days" and I didn't manage to get her there.
The council are working on an EHC plan for her, and are hopeful with this she will attend, but I feel like its looking more and more unlikely. She has been self harming and is now getting referred to an adult psychiatrist because she is so anxious and doesn't know how to control her anxiety by herself.
I signed her up to do AVON because she was spending all the time in the bedroom, and her 16 year old sister is applying for Saturday jobs and didn't want her to feel left out.
She gets all the commission (the small amount) and we use it to do things together that are around her obsessions due to her autism.
Anyway what I am thinking is if, I don't manage to get her to College in September then
1 ) Can she go from child tax credits which I receive, to working tax credits in her own right, working 16 hours doing Avon (supported by me her carer) rather than her ending up on a sickness benefit.
She is able to do the computer side, the ordering, the preparing books, putting the orders together, but relies on me to do the communicating with people.
2) Should I tell tax credits and child benefit now? or wait and see what happens in September?
I have so many people involved with her at the moment, the council with EHC plan, the College and Adult Services I really don't know what to do. They all seem confident she will go, but she is my daughter and I can see it getting less likely each day.
Please help! I don't want to hold back information but my husband says till we know what happens in September we should just leave things as they are.
As far as I am aware, we would have still got tax credits till August anyway.
I have an autistic daughter who is 18. She is meant to be going to college in September and we are getting support with that. She has separation anxiety and doesn't want to leave me, and having left school and having friends who looked after her there, to going to a strange environment with no friends is very stressful for her.
The Tax Credits are aware that she has a place for College in September, so I am still receiving them.
She should have gone in 2 days this week for "taster days" and I didn't manage to get her there.
The council are working on an EHC plan for her, and are hopeful with this she will attend, but I feel like its looking more and more unlikely. She has been self harming and is now getting referred to an adult psychiatrist because she is so anxious and doesn't know how to control her anxiety by herself.
I signed her up to do AVON because she was spending all the time in the bedroom, and her 16 year old sister is applying for Saturday jobs and didn't want her to feel left out.
She gets all the commission (the small amount) and we use it to do things together that are around her obsessions due to her autism.
Anyway what I am thinking is if, I don't manage to get her to College in September then
1 ) Can she go from child tax credits which I receive, to working tax credits in her own right, working 16 hours doing Avon (supported by me her carer) rather than her ending up on a sickness benefit.
She is able to do the computer side, the ordering, the preparing books, putting the orders together, but relies on me to do the communicating with people.
2) Should I tell tax credits and child benefit now? or wait and see what happens in September?
I have so many people involved with her at the moment, the council with EHC plan, the College and Adult Services I really don't know what to do. They all seem confident she will go, but she is my daughter and I can see it getting less likely each day.
Please help! I don't want to hold back information but my husband says till we know what happens in September we should just leave things as they are.
As far as I am aware, we would have still got tax credits till August anyway.
no longer miserable in debt.... :T but dont know how to change my id!!:beer:
0
Comments
-
miserableindebt wrote: »Hi everyone. I wonder if you can help me.
I have an autistic daughter who is 18. She is meant to be going to college in September and we are getting support with that. She has separation anxiety and doesn't want to leave me, and having left school and having friends who looked after her there, to going to a strange environment with no friends is very stressful for her.
The Tax Credits are aware that she has a place for College in September, so I am still receiving them.
She should have gone in 2 days this week for "taster days" and I didn't manage to get her there.
The council are working on an EHC plan for her, and are hopeful with this she will attend, but I feel like its looking more and more unlikely. She has been self harming and is now getting referred to an adult psychiatrist because she is so anxious and doesn't know how to control her anxiety by herself.
I signed her up to do AVON because she was spending all the time in the bedroom, and her 16 year old sister is applying for Saturday jobs and didn't want her to feel left out.
She gets all the commission (the small amount) and we use it to do things together that are around her obsessions due to her autism.
Anyway what I am thinking is if, I don't manage to get her to College in September then
1 ) Can she go from child tax credits which I receive, to working tax credits in her own right, working 16 hours doing Avon (supported by me her carer) rather than her ending up on a sickness benefit.
She is able to do the computer side, the ordering, the preparing books, putting the orders together, but relies on me to do the communicating with people.
2) Should I tell tax credits and child benefit now? or wait and see what happens in September?
I have so many people involved with her at the moment, the council with EHC plan, the College and Adult Services I really don't know what to do. They all seem confident she will go, but she is my daughter and I can see it getting less likely each day.
Please help! I don't want to hold back information but my husband says till we know what happens in September we should just leave things as they are.
As far as I am aware, we would have still got tax credits till August anyway.0 -
As said, she would need to be in receipt of DLA/PIP to receive WTC if under 25years and working less than 30hrs.
She would need to register as self employed with HMRC and complete tax returns. To be honest I think many doing a avon would struggle to show it's a genuine business, most people I know who do it/have done it is just for a little extra cash.
From HMRC -
Some self-employed people are not eligible for Working Tax Credit. To qualify, her self-employed work must aim to make a profit. It must also be commercial, regular and organised.
This means she may not qualify if she doesn't:
- make a profit or have clear plans to make one
- work regularly
- keep business records, such as receipts and invoices
- follow any regulations that apply to her work, for example having the right licence or insurance
If the average hourly profit from her self-employed work is less than the National Minimum Wage, the Tax Credit Office may ask her to provide:
- business records
- her business plan
- details of the day-to-day running of her business
- evidence that you’ve promoted your business - such as advertisements or flyers0 -
Sorry I never explain myself properly.
Yes she is on High Care DLA. I have done the eligibility checker and earning £2500 a year does qualify her for Working Tax Credits.
You can do really well with AVON providing you get out there and get customers. She has a team under her, so also earns from them. She is registered with HMRC already.
I am more worried about possibly holding back information from Child Tax Credits in case she doesn't end up going to college in September.
I have so many people on the Tax Credits help line who haven't known what they are talking about, I am reluctant to contact them for advice.no longer miserable in debt.... :T but dont know how to change my id!!:beer:0 -
Yes, £2500 might qualify her for working tax credit but HMRC have clamped down on self-employment and whether they accept it is commercial, with a view to a profit and organised/regular.
How many hours a week does she work to get £2500?
IQ0 -
Icequeen99 wrote: »Yes, £2500 might qualify her for working tax credit but HMRC have clamped down on self-employment and whether they accept it is commercial, with a view to a profit and organised/regular.
How many hours a week does she work to get £2500?
IQ
Up to now we have just been doing it to keep her occupied, but if we did it properly I am sure we can do more then that by doubling our customer base, getting more proactive. We have already done incredibly well with it since starting in November and it hasn't been difficult. I have told her that we will have to step it up if she does it as a means of proper income for herself, not just for hobby purposes. We can easily spend 16 hours maybe more doing it.
I have just done a web chat with Tax Credits, they said as long as we can prove there is a profit, it should be classed as viable.
The only other option is to put her on ESA. I know that you can do permitted work with ESA but not sure they will let us do a new application with her already doing it? Hope I am making senseno longer miserable in debt.... :T but dont know how to change my id!!:beer:0 -
She's probably be looking to have an income closer to £5000 otherwise it is highly likely tax credits will question her self employment and seek evidence. There have been plenty of claims that make a profit that tax credits have still not counted as viable as that is only one part of the criteria. There's no reason why she can't try to claim once you stop the CTC but she needs to be prepared that she could face questions from them.
You can continue to claim CTC until her intentions change and she decides she will no longer attend education.
I'm sure someone else will help with esa permitted work.0 -
Darksparkle wrote: »She's probably be looking to have an income closer to £5000 otherwise it is highly likely tax credits will question her self employment and seek evidence. There have been plenty of claims that make a profit that tax credits have still not counted as viable as that is only one part of the criteria. There's no reason why she can't try to claim once you stop the CTC but she needs to be prepared that she could face questions from them.
You can continue to claim CTC until her intentions change and she decides she will no longer attend education.
I'm sure someone else will help with esa permitted work.
Thanks so much. She won't answer questions, she would need me to help her with that, as I am her carer and her communication isn't good. Don't get me wrong she is a bright as a button and very academic, but she wont engage with people she doesn't know. This is a big reason she gets high care DLA.
You have been really helpful thank you I am so worried about not telling Tax Credits, but there is not a lot they can even do until we know if she actually attends or not.no longer miserable in debt.... :T but dont know how to change my id!!:beer:0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 348.3K Banking & Borrowing
- 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 452.4K Spending & Discounts
- 240.8K Work, Benefits & Business
- 617.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 175.6K Life & Family
- 254K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards