Claim as single?

BARGAINHUNTER!

something_girl wrote: »

Just a quick question, if anyone in the know could advise:

My boyfriend used to stay at my house most of the time, except when he stayed at his mothers when he saw his kids. Now that he has a job far away from where I live, he now stays at mine 3 nights a week, with the rest either in a hotel or at his mothers. We have nothing joint together, he is paying me back a loan I gave him to buy a car a year ago. I have 2 young children (not his) and all bills are in my sole name as is my house.

Should I now claim tax credits as a single person?

Thanks for help. I will ask tax credits people, but it's really hard to get through to them, so I thought I would gain the experience of regulars here.

Ok - please can I clarify this situation. Your B/f used to stay at yours so you were a 'couple' and claimed benefits as such. Now he has a job that involves him working away for part of the week and have decided that you are no longer a 'couple' therefore you should be claiming seperately. The only thing that has changed here is that your b/f has a different job. You saw yourselves as enough of a couple before to claim benefits as a couple - Im sure benefits fraud people would see this in the same way. He must have some stuff that he leaves at yours, or are you telling us that he packs all this stuff up lock stock and barrell into suitcases when he leaves yours and leaves no trace ie he treats your house like a hotel? (sorry to sound harsh, but thats the way it comes across).

There was a good saying I saw on one of these boards the other day that made me smile - if you ride the horse you pay for the stable! Perhaps you should have a word with your b/f regarding some sort of contribution for when he stays over. It seems to me that he is having his cake and eating it! I don't know if he pays his mother anything for when he stays there - if he wasn't then he was basically living scot free! How can that be right for a grown man who works?

Can I ask what the situation is/was with regards to your council tax? Presumably you didn't claim any discount before as you were not single occupier. What are you planning on doing now? Also, with regards to his hotels required for work - is he not able to claim the cost of these back from his employer as they are for work purposes? Where exactly is he registered to on the electral roll? If he was asked where he lived what would he say? Is he in effect 'homeless' These are all the questions that benefit officers ask!

SuziQ

You do need to be careful though. I was told that they will nir state how many nights constitutes living together,as then claimants would just say one less night. Instead they go on regularity and whether it appears to be an ongoing relationship-under those circumstances they could invesuigate further. I agree that the claim for a couple should be made more viable so that people aren't tempted to cheat-and somthing-girl I am not suggesting you are,if you wanted to cheat you would have just done so and not told anyone,so I 'm not having a go at you or anyone else.

something_girl

when he was living here all the time, I registered him on the council tax, obviously that is still the case.
He cannot claim anything from his employers for accommodation, because it's his choice to work there and not live there etc
he is registered at my address of electoral roll.

I understand all these points and haven't made any change to my status with HMRC and after this thread, I obviously won't as it's clear that it's inappropriate.

cheepskate_2

Is this a document that is drawn up by the conveyancer? Or is the tenants in common thing totally separate from the conveyancing process?

I'm also going to be doing this soon and will be using my house sale money as deposit for next house (about £170,000) with my OH taking out a mortgage in his sole name to top up to the price of the next house (about £100,000)

Thanks

****This is a previous post by yourself something_girl made beginning of may 2008, something you say doesnt add up or do you have a oh and a boyfriend.

Obviously the tax credits you want to be single and for all other things partnered.

mitchaa

On a joint income of over £40k i am extremely surprised that you have managed to claim TC?

A quick input of figures of that nature into entitled to or the HMRC website does not give TC at that range of income.

Apart from the basic entitlement of CTC at £545pa

mitchaa

something_girl wrote: »

when he was living here all the time, I registered him on the council tax, obviously that is still the case.
He cannot claim anything from his employers for accommodation, because it's his choice to work there and not live there etc
he is registered at my address of electoral roll.

I understand all these points and haven't made any change to my status with HMRC and after this thread, I obviously won't as it's clear that it's inappropriate.

A better way to do it would be to ask him for some financial help.

He should not expect to treat your home like a free hotel.

BARGAINHUNTER!

something_girl wrote: »

The difference is that he earns £36k and I earn £7220. Has he always earn't this sort of amount? Can I ask why he does not contribute anything to the household? i
I have 2 kids
He has 2 kids
they have never met.
I own a house
He owns nothing.
I have savings
He does not If he earms £36k and stays rent and board free with you then surely he can start to put some aside? £36k is an awful lot to earn and have nothing to show for it!! Presumably he has to pay maintenance for his kids out of this, and I know he now has hotels to pay for (not sure if he claims cost of these back from employer) maybe some debts to pay off (including the car loan to you), car expenses, not sure if he gives his mum anything but either way he should have a lot left over to put into savings!

I do not want to be tied financially, so I wouldn't, say for example, buy a house with him etc or get married. That is entirely your choice. How couples choose to manage their finances is entirely their own business.

Irks me that my tax credits claim has to include his wages, when basically what he earns has nothing at all, to do with me. Because you have classed yourselves as a couple in the past and have submitted a claim as a couple. It is no business of the tax credit people if you allowed him to live there without contributing! I don't see why you should expect tax payers to bridge the gap?

Just to clarify. I AM claiming as a couple, I'm NOT claiming anything fraudulently. I hardly get any tax credits.

You get the tax credits that you are entitled to claiming as a couple with a joint income of £43,256! Which yes, will not be very much at all!

mitchaa

BARGAINHUNTER! wrote: »

You get the tax credits that you are entitled to claiming as a couple with a joint income of £43,256!

Not possible with an income that high.

CTC has a threshold set at around £21k where basic entitlement of £545 takes over.

WTC i believe is about £28k joint.

Perhaps they have astronomically high childcare costs for the 2 children? They may get a little help with that even on a £43k income. High costs would have to be in region of around £200-250pw though.

Anyway, it looks like O.P wont be adjusting her claim

Edited to say.......She says she only gets about £60pm, the basic CTC is around £45 of which she would get on an income of £43k, so only a £15 difference there.

I dont believe you will be in receipt of WTC, but you will get CTC on a £43k income.

cheepskate_2

well the mortgage would have nothing to do with me, as I'm not the one needing to borrow any money? We're intending on moving further south, where houses are double the price. I own my house outright and have 2 young children. I have no debt, I have no mortgage. (quote 29/5/2008)

I am a bit confused as to just 2 of your previous posts ,Say what you want but claiming as a single person in your sit, would be fraud you clearly class yourself as a couple and this is how you look upon it , but obviously not when extra free money is involved

Idiophreak

mitchaa wrote: »

Perhaps a mandatory 2-3yr jail term for people openly abusing the system would sort it out. Put the fear back into it that it is wrong to falsely claim.

Or making it more financially rewarding to have a partner rather than being single??

Yeah, those are both good ideas - but they just show that there isn't *really* anything wrong with the system as it stands. For once, it actually seems kinda common sense - if it gets to a stage where the relationship is causing you to gain financially, you're expected not to claim as a single anymore (if I have the right end of the stick here).

I don't think the definition of "single" is really an issue, more the definition of "living together". Me and my girlfriend have been together for over 7 years. We both live with our parents. I don't see how us being in a relationship has anything to do with our living arrangements, or the benefits either of us should receive.

Say she had a house, I could stay over six nights per week - I still don't think I'd be "living there". As soon as I get my post delivered there, stop paying rent on another home etc etc *then* we're living together...but short of that, I don't think you can really call it.

The only real problem with the way the system works is that it doesn't work. The penalties for abusing it aren't harsh enough, awareness of the system is too low and there aren't enough "spot checks" or whatever to find the fraudsters.

When it comes to people like the OP, I think they just have to be honest...where does he lay his hat? If his home's with her, he's living there and staying away. Otherwise, he's living away and crashing a couple of nights per week.

edit: sorry, this post looks really out of place. not sure what went wrong there