Tax credit when on maternity leave

[Ilovefood15]

I have made a claim for child and working tax credit, when filing in claim I have my income for last year. I have since received letter to say I am entitle to child and working tax credit but do I need to let them know I am currently on maternity leave? Will it make any difference? I have been trying to ring then all day and can't get through

Thanks in advance

B

Bump

If your income this tax year is going to be less than last year you can ask them to pay you based on your current earnings. You have to say it is causing you hardship not to pay you the full amount now.

If they don't then you will have an underpayment which they will pay later. But then make sure you don't get an overpayment next year.

Also for any tax year that you were in mat leave you need to claim a tax rebate. Most women don't do this and lose a lot of money!

Also hmrc don't count the first 100 per week of mat pay as income so reduce your figures accordingly. I just found this out and am about to return to work

I am on maternity leave and will be claiming tax credits for first time. I have requested a claim form, just waiting on it coming in post. DD is now 5 weeks old. My child benefit was sorted last week. My income for 2014/2015 is going to be considerably less than last year. I am going to phone them tomorrow and find out how this works. Will let you know how I get on.

Thank you dreamcatcher, good luck getting through x