How are tax credit awards calculated? help me please

[normanprice]

I have been recieving tax credits for 4 years now and still compleatly confused at how the figures on my award relate to me. I think the tax credit system is good (it has certainly helped me alot) though needs alot more transparancy.
I get on average 8 different award notices per tax year though I have only changed circumstaces twice. I am currentley looking at 3 notices I have recieved in the last 3 weeks, my income on them is all the same but the figures for child tax and working tax varry considerably from me owing them £1034 to them owing me £984. Does anyone know how I can calculate my own award so that I will know which are right, they are always helpful when I ring them (when I get through !) but I would like to know where these figures that seem plucked from the air come from.
Any help gratefully recieved
their website is being updated at the moment

this is what i looked at to see how much i was entitled too \link{www.entitledto.co.uk\here}

\link{http://www.entitledto.co.uk//here} try again

its not working sorry the website is entitledto.co.uk

blimey that sounds a bit extreme, i only get new award when change in circumstances, i think you neeed to ring them and get them to explain. i was overpaid last year and they are taking a bit back each week, sorry i cant help, is there anything on there website

Thanks
The problem is everytime I ring them they then send me out a new notice which contradicts the previous ones !!

Thanks for site pepperpots I have just looked and it gave me a figure very different to any I have seen before !!!!
I'd like to know how these figures are arrived at.

Anyone else got any idea? PLEEEEASE

I think they're probably just made up as well. I had a massive overpayment because there was nowhere to enter my current year's salary and I didn't do that much work in the year before ds was born. So they sent out a revised notice and mysteriously despite the fact I was no longer entitled to Working Tax Credit at all, the amount I owed them is not the same as the amount they paid me. AND the notices cover the same period, so how can that be?

Of course they don't want me to pay the money back, but equally as I'm not entitled to WTC at all, how they can claw it back through underpayments in future years?

Surely there must be a system - does \link{http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/wtc2.htm#c15\this} bear any resemblance to reality?

Or \link{http://www.direct.gov.uk/Bfsl1/BenefitsAndFinancialSupport/BenefitsAndFinancialSupportArticles/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=10018922&chk=CUIJ0b\this} maybe?