OMG...Tax credits gone down WHY?

[bjf1]

Received a letter this morning. Tax credits going down from £6,000 per year to £311.00?
How do they work that out?
Income same so am confused.

There's loads of changes coming up in April
It's the coalition
It's been all over the news

They've cut the income threshould significantly. Our's have been stopped completeley despite the fact we are currently on less money as I am on maternity leave!!

Phone them and ask. The changes from April shouldn't make too much difference to your award if you're currently getting 6,000 GBP. Did your income go up last year compared with the previous year? Because your award is usually based on the previous year's income, when your income goes up, you basically get the same tax credits for a year and then they go down.

If you earn over 26k tax credits are being stopped

income is "£23,000.
Shit, have they been paying us too much then?

This is a silly idea, ignore me if I am wrong

Could £311 be how much you have left between not and the beginning of April? (couple of weeks at £115 plus a part week?)

Go to a CAB and ask them to check it all out for you - depending on local arrangements, you should be able to ring them first during opening hours to make an appointment. That way you will know from an impartial third party whether or not it is correct, and if it is is, they can advise on whether there are any other benefits you are entitled to. If it is wrong, then they will help you ask for the decision to be reviewed, but go to CAB soon as there are usually time limits for appeals etc.

Not necessarily been overpaid. if you've had a fairly big rise in income in the last few years. How many children do you have? Do you have childcare costs?

Tax credits are NOT being stopped for everyone earning over 26K - it depends how many children you have, childcare costs etc.

This is because the earnings thresholds have been drastically lowered by this Con-Dem coalition.

We all obviously earn far too much and need to pay more tax. Whereas before, we paid the tax and then got some back (stupid way of doing it in my view but hey it was better than nothing), we now pay the same tax and the government just keeps it.

As you have noticed, it is a big drop in income for an awful lot of people. This is on top of increased prices for food, fuel and heating as well as pay cuts for a lot of people AND increased VAT to 20%.

They income threshold for getting the family element ONLY has been lowered. People getting above this shouldn't see much change in their awards unless they are working under the new minimum 24 hours.

Is the £26k per household?

total household income is £23,00.
3 dcs all under 16.

On 23K I calculate you should be getting more than 300 even if you only have 1 child. I would phone them and ask what's going on.

Has your income gone up in the last couple of years?

6K-ish on that income with 3 children, assuming one of you is working at least 16 hours and 24 hours between you sounds about right. I'm surprised nobody ever links to the calculator on here: www.mumsnet.com/jobs/changes-to-tax-credits

This confirms that your award should be broadly the same (probably slightly higher actually!)

I have just checked it again and it was just for a 3 week period.
BUT, I have this horrible feeling they have still overpaid us because I think I forgot to add in the Dividends from the company, if that makes any sense.
Bloody hell, if I have ballsed up on this, they are going to hang me out to dry aren,t they.
Anyone else had to pay back and what actually happens?

Thought so, can't help re:overpayments sorry

Where did that grin come from - I did NOT put it there HONEST

Oh sorry for misinformation
The other thread said the same

i have lost mine altogether. im up shit creek, because since starting a full time job which on paper looks like i earn more, i pay so much in travel that im actually no better off.

How much were the dividends and what year/s were they paid in? If over 300GBP then you may have been overpaid. You need to contact them and fess up - they will ask you to repay it, but if you're honest there should be minimal or no penalty to pay on top of the overpayment.

So how much do you have to earn to lose them?
I'm so confused

Well I think, what I've done is, when we get the books back from the accountant, I have taken the net income figure and used that on the tax credit form. Dh pays himself £2,000 per month which goes straight into his personal account from the business account. He uses that to pay all personal bills such as mortgage, council tax etc. He never takes any other money out of the businees account, so to my mind, our income is roughly £23-24,000 per year. Have I done that right/
It is a limited company, so any money left in the business account does not actually belong to us, does it? So I don't count that IYSWIM.
Also, I was under the impression that you did not have to count the first £5,000, I think, as that is your personal allowance before you start paying tax, so is not taxed, right?
I have been doing this all wrong haven't I?

Not sure, bjf1, but it's really worth checking. Dh and I take monthly salaries from the limited company which isn't above the threshold, but we don't qualify for any tax credit because they do take dividend income into account.

If it's still in the business account, to be used for business purposes, then that wouldn't be counted AFAIK. But if you've taken out dividends (on top of salary) then it does because it becomes your income.