to want my partner to claim tax credits as we'll get a higher rate than if I do?

[Ginni]

We don't live together so by their criteria we are both single parents. DD is always with me currently as i'm on maternity leave, and we spend just over half the week at mine, and the rest at his house. When I return to work we're planning on using a childminder and spending most of the week at his house and weekends at mine for convenience. The form says the main person responsible for dd's care should apply - AIBU to want him to claim as he earns less and we'll get about £7000 more p/a including childcare component? I should clarify he is also dd's biological dad.

They will burn you alive if they catch up with you, you are a couple if you shop together, you attend family events together, if you attend your child's school play's/fete's etc together.
If you are not claiming child support for your DD and have another on the way (proving you are in a sexual relationship with this man) you'll face a criminal record, maybe prison for fraud.

as with coprate taxes there are loop holes and this may well be a loop hole with the tax credits?

As Glastonbury says perhaps the op should be claiming child maintainance from him as they live in seperate houses and she is the main carer - and perhpas as a lot of fathers do he may well refuse to pay?

If the op got a boyfriend and he lived in another house and stayed over twice a week and she went to sleep at his house once a week would that effect each of thems tax credits if they were both claiming?

It is a fine line though

In these circumstances, if you were not a couple not only would your DD's dad be expected to pay you child support, he would also have no chance of claiming the CTC to offset the costs, regardless how much time she spent with him. Conversely, if you were living together you would have to submit your joint income and would probably get much less than if either of you claimed alone.

You are both onto a winner already and yet you still want to have your cake and eat it. IMO you are being totally unreasonable.

Yes it would affect the situation if she had a boyfriend who stayed over 2 nights a week if she had a child or two with him, this is not a casual relationship is it ?

Sorrento I know copupes that are divorced and meet your critera of a couple They do family birthdays, school plays and parents eve together.

The difference being that they aren't producing a new baby together I would imagine if divorced. And they aren't spending nights at each others houses.

hobgoblin I am inclined to agree with everything you have said. Glastonburygoddess - I don't know anything about child maintainance but surely there are plenty of single parents out there who claim tax credits who aren't claiming and have no intention of claiming child maintainance from "dad", I don't understand why it means anything much?

Ginni - you're right that there's no connection between CTC and child maintenance. The absent parent gets his/her income assessed including any CTC received for any other children living with them, so they lose out twice. The parent with care, on the other half, has the maintenance money disregarded in their own CTC assessment, so they get the full benefit of both. Talk about "heads I win, tails you lose" situation for the absent parent.

sorrento - erm, we're not producing a new baby together either!

Sorry I misunderstood when you said you were on maternity leave I assumed another was on the way.
It's still fraud though however you want to try and dress it up and I am not giving you any more examples of why as they might help you wriggle out of it when you get the knock on the door.

I still don't understand how on earth it is fraud! The way I see it we are not a couple by their definition so either of us can make the application.

I think it just goes against the spirit of the rules Ginni, even if you could technically get away with it. Someone could report you, although I doubt the Govt would care as much as if you were claiming benefits.

The problem I have with your intentions is one of sour grapes. If DH and I lived apart we could claim shedloads more money than we do, but as it is, it's not viable for DH to work because of the amount we'd lose in childcare costs and needing a second car.

I'm puzzled as to why you're not living together if you describe him as your partner. I know of people who live in the way you describe purely to get more money out of the system (hopefully this isn't the reason in your case) and I think that's very sad and a poor example for their DCs.

Yes there are single parents out there that et tax credits and working tax credits and do not manage to get any maintenence for there children from the father.

For tax credits purposes you do not have to declare tax free money that you aquire and this includes savings in an isa and maintenence as they are both tax free.

You are in a different position from a single parent - you are a couple and you seem to have found a loop hole to obtain more money by living in two houses rather than one.

You will get peoples backs up as like the MP's you can get around the system but it will not make you popular

Your daughter has the benefit of two people supporting her financially and yet you are claiming to be a single parent, that is why it is fraud.
People who are single parents do not spend time at each others houses, therefore benefiting from lower bills, shared costs etc.
If you were to take your DD to her dads leave her there and you go back to your house then you both still incur separate costs still, however as that doesn't happen you are financially benefiting from being in a couple.
Ignorance is no defense in a court of law.

I was TC Officer, and although I can't check for sure, my gut is saying that you're kind of right. By Tax Credit definition you are not a couple, because you don't share a house. They don't have the same rigid rules that the DWP do about staying over etc.
If he has his own house and you have your own house then you dont live together and so can claim separately.
So that's fine.
What isn't fine is that you've clearly said that DD spends almost all the time with you, to claim otherwise in order to get more tax credits is fraud.
The parent claiming the CTC has to be the person who is getting the CB for that child, and is the main carer. From everything you've said here that's you not your DP.
You've said you're on Mat leave, have you told them that and updated your figures with them? yo know you get to make big deductions to your declared income whilst on mat leave so will get much higher TC yourself atm?
If you havent done this, speak to them and check it out before you consider lying to them. It's seriously a bad idea, they come down VERY hard when they find out.

IvyKate - "you don't have to declare tax-free money that you acquire". Does that also mean earnings that are below the personal allowance and too low to pay NI?

You call him your partner in the title of this thread. Why don't you think you're a couple?

But as many people have said, your "partner" isn't looking after your dd. Why would he claim CTC for her?

I'd do a search for posts by people who were overpaid by tax credits if I were you. They will catch you and take the money back. Not worth it imo.

Twinkle Megan that is correct they disregard the first £5k.
The tax credit rules are the same as the DWP I have the handbook in front of me.

I dont know about earnings - sorry. I do know that they take your pension contributions of your earings - they never told me and I never realised until this year!

So could have had more, they dont ask though. I think it was someone on hear that said about it, so I asked and yes they took it of as pensions are tax free.....

Presumably that's the first £5k as a couple. So if I earn £xxk and DH does some casual work for a couple of £k a year, they wouldn't disregard that would they? (I don't know why I'm asking, I'm sure I know the answer already).

As I understand it the parent claiming CTC doesn't have to be the person who is getting CB for that child.

In that case, perhaps DH should've been able to claim CTC for his children all these years to help out with maintenance costs. Fat chance.

I don't think it has to be paid to the person who gets CB - DH and I split it, I get one he gets the other. But we claim as a couple. That's the difference I think.