Tax Credits - could somebody help me please??

[TheHermitCrab]

I work full time, and my partner works part time, I'm 26 and he's 27.

At the moment we don't qualify for tax credits (combined we were earning something like £10 too much or something silly!)

Anyway.....

I'm pregnant and due to go on maternity at Xmas, and my due date is the 21st January and I have a couple of tax credit questions.

1. When should I ring an ask for an application pack? I was thinking December (to avoid xmas shut down period..etc)

1. When can I fill out the pack and apply? I.E. Can I apply based on my due date? or do I need to wait until the little one has arrived, and THEN apply.

and 3. I will be on maternity for a few months therefore no childcare, after that, I will be going back to work, so do I go through the whole application again to include childcare costs?

Money is going to be so tight on maternity (I'm on debt management plans...etc, for example, this month I have £4.50 left until the 15th Nov and I'm still earning a wage at the mo!!) So I'm trying to figure out the best method to avoid backlogs and too much back dating..

Anyone applied recently who could help?

Thank you all!!

You won't be able to apply until you have a change in your circumstances. Once the baby is born you can reapply. Even then, they'll base it on your previous year's income, so you may not be eligible at first. What you'll have to do is ask for an in-year assessment of earnings.

Don't forget that you can ignore the first £100 of any earnings while on maternity leave, so you'll have to estimate based on that.

Oh that sounds complicated..... I suppose I need to ring up and explain the situation to them don't I?

I'm guessing I will be entitled to something even based on last years income - on the fact that I will now have a child and it's not just me and the partner... but obviously I may be entitled to more if they are taking into consideration I'll be on SMP for half a year...

It's so complicated! And I want to make sure I know as much as possible because you hear horror stories about them overpaying and asking for it back!