Tax Credits and Child Benefit changes

[TheHouseofMirth]

i'm really confused and Googling hasn't elucidated matters so hoping someone here can help.

We currently get CB for 2 children and £40 ish a month CTC. DH earns £37,500 and I'm a SAHM.

I realise DH is now considered a higher rate tax payer (which is obviously totally fair because incomes of £35k and £150 are pretty similar, aren't they?!) but thought any loss in income would be offset by the change in personal allowance. However, I'd forgotten about the Child Benefit and Tax Credits and am wondering what will we be losing and when?

Child Benefit for HRT payers is still in place until 2013, so that's a year or two away for planning purposes. Tax Credits are scaled back and the threshold drops to £40k (from £50k) from April. The family element of CTC remains at £545/year but the 'withdrawal rate' increases.

2011 Tax Credit Thresholds

What 2011 Tax Credit Changes Mean

More explanation about 2011 Tax Credit changes

Your dh is not a higher rate tax payer - the threshold for this is 42,875 iirc. Your CTC will stay the same this year, but you will probably lose it next year.

HTH.

Thanks for that. I can stop panicking now!