Tax Credits newbie!

emzii25

Slightly complicated situation!
My partner and I had our daughter last June and in october, he left his job and we went travelling for 6 months.
He went back to his old job on 3rd April 2018 on 24k( he was on 21k last tax year but only earnt 8.5k between april and october 2017.
Which figure will they base the tax credits on?
My partner is reluctant to go ahead with tax credits as he thinks that we will be stuck with a big overpayments bill the end of the 2018/19 tax year.
We have decided that I will stay home as my wages wouldnt have covered the childcare costs.
Hope this makes sense!
Thanks in advance

Ames

You need to check whether or not you're in a full service Universal Credit area, if so you have to claim that instead of tax credits.

If you can claim tax credits then it's better to do so now rather than end up on UC as they're usually more generous.

If you expect an overpayment then just put that amount in a different account every time you get a tax credit payment and you won't have a problem.

Darksparkle

If tax credits is applicable, a claim for 2018/19 would be based on an income of £21,500. That's the £24,000 he expects to earn minus the £2,500 they disregard for income increases.

As long as he informs them he expects to earn £24,000 then there's no reason why there would be an overpayment unless he ends up earning more than £24,000.