Can someone help me calculate UC v Tac Credits please?

[Fluffybeebee]

We have recently gone onto the furlough scheme and combined we now earn £1150 a month. Our rent is £480 a month and we get £360 tax credits, child benefit for DS13 but no help for the housing benefit or council tax.

Does anyone know how to figure out if we would be any better under UC? I keep hearing that if you are still on Tax Credits, not to change. But we are really struggling on this wage. Any help would really be appreciated.

You’d need to let someone know your children’s ages
If anyone gets disability
How you Rent and how many bedrooms if council
And also where you rent. (First part of postcode if renting so we can work Out LHA for housing element
How old and dh are

Have a look at the entitled to website. It will calculate it for you and I've always found it to be accurate to within a few £s.

Some people are better off on UC but I think it tends to be single parents working part time

I can do it for you tomorrow when I have my computer on and benefit calculator in front of me.

But as a general rule, as you are not claiming HB, none of you claiming any disability benefits, you will be better off on Universal Credit.

You could try Entitledto as a PP suggested, there's also Turn2Us.

Go on to the entitled to website and do a calculation. It will show you what you should get on the tax credits system and what you would get on the universal credits system so you can compare which is better for you.

I make it about £815 Uc per month but this assumes you are both paid once a month. If either are paid weekly or fortnightly or four weekly that would alter things a bit.

Working out are as follows - Couples element £594.04, child element £281.25 and you should receive full rent element of £480 as no spare bedrooms. Total is £1355.29
deductions for earnings are £1150 minus work allowance of £292 x 0.63 = £540.54 deduction.
£1355.29 - £540.54 = £814.75.

@babyroobs has hit it on the head. Permitting that’s a monthly not 4 weekly salary.
(If 4 weekly you’ll end up with one month where you’re paid twice, And so get less UC although it evens out through the year.

Entitled to and turn2us are a bit naff TBH. But the Facebook group Unicersal credit essentials is great

Thanks for the advice.

We used to get housing benefit, only a small amount. But they suddenly stopped it in March due to a change in income. Our income went down so I don't understand why. I emailed them and gave them our Payslips and I received a big calculated page confirming that we are entitled to nothing. But apparently we owe £500 in overpayments from before. We owe around £900 in rent too. Things are really snowballing and I can't see a way out.

I will have a look on the online calculators too but I saw a post earlier suggesting not to use them but to do the calculation manually.

Trust Babyroobs 👍

Thanks so much @Babyroobs I didn't see your calculation before I replied.

Yes, it is a monthly pay. It is quite a considerable difference between Tax Credits and UC.

Do you know if the money goes straight into the rent account? I'm worried that they will take everything to clear the debt and leave us nothing to live with.

No it doesn't it'll go to you and then you'll have to pay the rent yourself. (I like Housing Benefit.) you can request that the housing element is paid directly to your landlord but the rest wouldn't be.

Unlike Housing Benefit!

Thanks!

Finally, before I fill in my application. Is there any reason for me not to change from TC to UC?

No, just be aware that your tax credits will stop when you claim Universal Credit. (If you're due a tax credits payment in the next few days it might still come through.) You can request an advance payment of UC which I would advise as otherwise there is a 5 week wait for the first payment.

There will be a final calculation of your tax credits award - it would be a good idea to give the tax credits office the info from your April payslips (and P60s if you have them). There might be an overpayment or underpayment of tax credits, if there's an overpayment it would usually be paid back via deductions to your UC.

Thanks @AnotherEmma

The only other thing that should be considered is if you have any savings over 6k that would reduce the amount of Uc you get and if over 16k you would not get Uc at all.

Ah yes good point.

One more thing...

I believe there might be a potential payment due from Tax Credits because they had overestimated our earnings for 2019/2020. Will I still get that once I move over to Universal Credits and if so will it effect my award?

"Will I still get that once I move over to Universal Credits"
Yes

"and if so will it effect my award?"
No

I did my application yesterday. But I have just come across a problem and I am really panicked now. My husband is the director of the company that we both work for. We are both furloughed at the moment.

I've just seen that directors are treated differently as self employed. Is this right? I never even considered this might be a problem because we are both paid via PAYE. He's never been paid any more than the minimum £719 a month and me too.

Have I screwed this up? Should I have stayed on Tax Credits?

Does he pay himself dividends in addition to PAYE salary?

No, he never has

It'll be fine then.

I'm still trying to get my head round all of this but it says something somewhere about Minimum Income Floor and having to declare all income/expenditure every month?

I didn't declare that he was the director I just put us both down as employed.