CTC + WTC advice needed. Dont understand..lol.

notlongnow_2

Hi, I currently live with my partner who is registered disabled. I have 3 children including a 10month old baby. I currently work 22.5hrs per week.

I currently am receiving £485 a month WTC and CTC(they reduced payment by approx £60 without warning 3 months ago). I claim no other benefits apart from child benefit.

My query is that, if I were to drop a shift at work and reduce my hours to 15, would I be entitled to more or less than I receive now? I earn approx £10k per year.

Im just musing at the moment about spending more time with the family whilst they are young and then upping my hours again when the children are more self sufficient...if that will ever be!..lol.

I have looked at websites but I find them really confusing and wondered if some kind soul would offer me a helping hand.

My partner's benefit income totals approx £8k a year.

Also, would my CTC and WTC payments be higher this year as most of last year was maternity leave including 3months at half pay...or will I get some kind of back payment?
Thanks in advance and sorry for me being a bit dim.

redmel1621

Hi
If you drop your hours to 16pw then you would be ok....They would increase your tax credits and any housing benefit/council tax benfit would also increase.
If, however, you drop to 15hrs pw you would no longer be entitled to any tax credits working or child, as this is under the required amount of hours to claim it....

It would be a good idea to go on the tax credit website and enter all your details as they would be if you were working 16hrs and the annual amount that you would be on doing those hours...this will tell you how much you could expect for the coming year.

One thing I will say about the reduced income for last year is, if you give them your p60 amount for last tax year they will pay you this year based on that amount so yu will get significantly more...the only problem is that next year when you give them your earnings for this year they will work out that you would have ben overpaid and will want it all back. So when you renew give them last years earnings but also give them your predicted earnings for this coming year so they can work it out correctly....they are sods if you end up owing them anything they take it in a big lump sum....

Mel x

kurjam

redmel1621 wrote: »

Hi
If you drop your hours to 16pw then you would be ok....They would increase your tax credits and any housing benefit/council tax benfit would also increase.
If, however, you drop to 15hrs pw you would no longer be entitled to any tax credits working or child, as this is under the required amount of hours to claim it....

It would be a good idea to go on the tax credit website and enter all your details as they would be if you were working 16hrs and the annual amount that you would be on doing those hours...this will tell you how much you could expect for the coming year.

One thing I will say about the reduced income for last year is, if you give them your p60 amount for last tax year they will pay you this year based on that amount so yu will get significantly more...the only problem is that next year when you give them your earnings for this year they will work out that you would have ben overpaid and will want it all back. So when you renew give them last years earnings but also give them your predicted earnings for this coming year so they can work it out correctly....they are sods if you end up owing them anything they take it in a big lump sum....

Mel x

If she was to work less than 16 hours she would still get child tax credits it would just be working tax credit she would lose....

redmel1621

Ah yes sorry...I forgot.

You can still claim child tax credits even if on income support..this is what a friend of mine used to do.

Mel x