tax credits (mainly the change in WTC hours) for dummies please!

[Cremeeggsandkitkatsoldiers]

I'm cluesless please be gentle (but blunt! )

DH and I were both working over 16 hours a week
DH JUST over 16
me sometimes close to 16 but sometimes much more, it varied but TCs accepted a monthly average from me.
Some weeks I will work over 24 hours but not every week and I don't think I'll always average over 24/week over the course of a month
We're on a low income so not too worried about that threshold, more worried about the hours

Do we both have to work over the 24 hrs a week? (because when I slipped under the 16 last year we lost some TCs even though DH was still working over 16 every week). Can it be 48hrs between us if say he does 16 and I do 32? I have more capacity for overtime than him, or do each of us have to reach our own thresholds?

thanks, and sorry I know this has been done to death but I've not got the hang of it!

To my understanding, it's 24 hours between you with 1 person working min 16 hours each week.

oh that's good rock chic, so its a bit different to before, not just the hours up, because before they would drop our TCs if MY hours dropped bellow 16 even though DH's were consistantly just above? so we had to do 32 between us

or were we underpaid for periods of time then?

It's 24 hours for a couple with at least one working 16 hours a week. As far as I know it used to be 16 hours for a couple so I'm not sure why you lost tax credits when between you, you were working in excess of 16 hours a week. Unless it was to do its he extra part at 30 hours? Although not sure whether that was for a combined total or one person working 30 hours if that makes sense.

Think it was the 30 hour element - if you look here and scroll down a bit it mentions the 30 hour element which if both of you were working 16 hours you would meet but if one of you were slightly under you possibly wouldn't.

as i see it you have to work 24 hours between you and your partner, or just one of you working over 24 hours. in regards to your hours changing week by week i'm the same, i work 3 days on & have 3 days off but what i did was give TC the hours on my contract (mine are 17.5) as my employer states that average. because my hubby is out of work i will lose my WTC (not that i was getting much anyway £7.90 a week) but whati can now claim for is free school meals as i earn below £16.190, once the Tc get off their arses & update the system as i stopped receiving WTC last week but my local school meals service check my TC claim & im still down as receiving WTC :S