Is returning to education a “change ion circumstances” that will put me on UC rather than tax crdits

calcotti

w06 wrote: »

With PGCE you're also entitled to usual student finance and so income would be considered the bursary plus maintenance loan for UC and ESA (an additional ~10k potentially), not sure how it's worked out for tax credits.

As posted at #6 student loans are ignored for tax credits according to the link I provided.

sheramber

From the link in post 6

It does say 'certain bursaries'are ignored

How does student support affect tax credits?
Student loan income is ignored when working out the amount of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit you will get.

Some student grant income is ignored for Tax Credits, including:

• any amount for tuition fees
• a postgraduate maintenance grant
• certain bursaries (such as a health bursary or social work bursary)
• childcare grants
• a parents’ learning allowance.

If you don’t apply for student income, which you could claim, you can still be treated as if you have that money. This is called “notional income.”

calcotti

sheramber wrote: »

From the link in post 6

It does say 'certain bursaries'are ignored

How does student support affect tax credits?
Student loan income is ignored when working out the amount of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit you will get.

Some student grant income is ignored for Tax Credits, including:

• any amount for tuition fees
• a postgraduate maintenance grant
• certain bursaries (such as a health bursary or social work bursary)
• childcare grants
• a parents’ learning allowance.

It’s confusing isn’t it.

“Student loan income is ignored when working out the amount of Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit you will get.”

“If you don’t apply for student income, which you could claim, you can still be treated as if you have that money. This is called “notional income.””

Can’t see how you can have notional income from a loan you didn’t apply for if the loan itself would be ignored!

w06

tis clear as mud. I'm doing a PGCE from September and just assuming I'll be entitled to nothing other than PIP (currently on UC), but can't complain with a 26k tax free bursary, and hopefully job at the end of it

nicdigby

Shel - I don’t get WTC. I get CTC.
Yes I have a first class degree in a related subject and an a-level at grade A in the shortage subject - I’m thinking I will need to do an SKE. That’s not the question I am asking though.

nicdigby

Thanks again Calcotti.

The loan thing is weird - basically they're encouraging you to take a loan because they will count it anyway??

The “certain bursaries” line is what I found before I posted here; I am trying to find out whether a PGCE bursary counts or not and am not having any luck.

Calcotti - do you have a link to the legislation that states full time education will not end my claim to child tax credits, specifically it would not be counted as a change of circumstances that would roll me onto UC?

w06

Good luck with it Nic. Reason I was asking was the in demand subjects may have changed by the time you got there if needed to do a bachelors first too. The SKEs appear to have a variable reputation, worth joining some of the teacher training social media groups to weigh up which to do if you have to (they're funded if a condition of offer)

I'd not previously understood why student loans are called a graduate tax, but hadn't realised no matter how much you borrow (in the current system) the repayment is the same, it just goes on for longer. I'm still trying to figure out whether I should take out the maintenance loan as well as fees loan, as they're treated as outgoings rather than debt by banks it probably is worth it, I think.

Icequeen99

See https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/tax-credits-technical-manual/tctm04005 which includes the relevant legislation so you can double check

IQ