So I had my son in April 2014 and as I am under 25 I started claiming tax credits for the first time. I filled out the form and sent it away and then I received my tax credits and all was fine. I had been working longer hours before I went on maternity so when I returned to work in February I rang HMRC again to let them know I was reducing my working hours and my income would be affected. I told the lady I was speaking to that I had been on maternity leave and receiving maternity allowance of £139ish a week and I would now only be earning £80 a week, together myself and the HMRC worker added them together and reassessed what I would be earning for the year 2014/2015- shortly after I got my new award notice and everything was fine.
After April 2015 I filled out my tax credit renewal form and I received my renewal decision at the start of August. I noticed my tax credits for this year had gone down as they had my earnings for 2015-2016 as predicted too high. I phoned up straight away and the guy on the phone was lovely. explained how I had been earning £139 a week for 39 weeks last tax year because I was on maternity leave and £80 a week for the few weeks after from Feb-April but for this tax year it would only be £80 a week. The guy changed my amount for this year but also explained to me that they discredit the first £100 a week if you are receiving maternity pay and would only use the £39 so my earnings for 2014-2015 were actually considerably lower than I thought. I had never heard this before and the lady I had spoken to a few months before never mentioned it even though I had told her I was on maternity leave. The guy sent off a referral to get my earnings for the previous year changed.
Today I have received my amendment and they have not changed my earnings from the year 2014-2015 as I did not tell them sooner - but I didn't know! I rang up and the girl on the phone told me I must fill in a mandatory reconsideration form and send that off within 30 days of today's amendment to see if they will change their mind.
Have any of you filled in one of these forms before or been in this situation? My tax credits for this year are considerably lower than last year and it is really affecting my income- I should be getting at least £100 more a month not to mention the back payment from the tax credits I was owed last year.