Uc help please

[HJT95]

Hi I really need some help please, so last month my shares from my company matured and I was given the option to take them out or leave them in I said leave them in, anyway my payslip shows the gain then underneath my normal salary and before tax deductions, then I have been taxed on the gain which is a few thousand. So my total gross pay is £3982.62. but then underneath it has "transfer" which is the shares going back in, then my normal nett pay of £1080.04. I am on UC due to my part time hours, they have obviously seen this from HMRC and adjusted my entitlement for the month right down to £146 which is approx £1000 less than I usually get from them. So I have rang up and told them and their response was "You have a third party deduction coming from your earnings before. In your last payment, this deduction was for £2149.33. This is a non-allowable deduction and will be classed as earnings when calculating your Universal Credit payment." They have said I am unable to get an advance loan to cover my bills this month. Please tell me there is something I can do about this I literally do not know what to do !!! Any help would be appreciated thank you!

Sell the shares? The issue is likely that some of the shares are sold to cover the tax on you being given them.

My guess is you essentially have extra income this month (your share award) which takes you out of eligibility for UC. You'd be expected to sell the shares and use the income to cover your bills.

I imagine the right thing to do would be sell the shares. You are sitting on money whilst claiming money off the tax payer.

Well yes - you’ve got extra income haven’t you? So it’s correct UC is reduced. Same as if it went into a savings account, you’ve still been given extra money from your employer haven’t you?

These threads honestly astonish me. This is why benefits are problematic. Once people are on them, they see it as their income, regardless of anything else that changes.

Yes you had extra income , it was your prerogative what you do with it . UC is not there to help you grow your shares portfolio !
We survive on Pip ( low rate ) and carers allowance and do not qualify for uc due to having savings so are also living off those .
Does that agrieve me that I will have nothing to pass on to my children , yes , can I do, anything about it , no , but I just have to accept and move on .

Well you have almost £3K in shares allocated to you & presumably you asked for that to be reinvested so you could keep all of your UC? Are you expecting to keep the bonus & still get help from the taxpayer? It sounds fair to me that you get less if you have had an influx of money.

Also op, if it was possible to just get valuable shares that didn't count as income for UC etc, there'd be a massive industry in being paid in shares and claiming UC.

Mind you, this is no worse than the dodgy uc loophole where CofE clergy who work in "house for duty" roles. The way the tax rules work, they often get large 4 bed vicarages but the taxable benefit is calculated as quite low (far less than market rents) and then they are all eligible for UC top ups and private school bursaries due to their "low income" despite them living rent & bill free in houses that would cost £2,500 a month to rent.

It amazes me that the Daily Mail haven't picked up on it, its essentially the state subsidising the church.

Shares are classed as income when they mature, and you are taxed on them at that point. It’s just like getting a bonus. You can’t just opt to keep them as savings and pretend they don’t exist. You need to sell some of the shares to make up the UC lost.

They are right- you have money there that you could access, you are choosing not to, which is fine and your choice but it’s not a choice that UC will fund you to make.

No I didn't receive the extra income in my pay my nett pay was still the same as it was

Clearly I did not realise that I should of taken the shares out at the moment to use them for living instead of my UC. I've seen others allowed £6k in savings before affected. I was thinking of my daughters future and to help me when I am back in full time work which is not far off then I won't be claiming any benefits at all as opposed to people who make a whole life out getting benefits and not getting a job 😑

Clearly I did not realise that I should of taken the shares out at the moment to use them for living instead of my UC. I've seen others allowed £6k in savings before affected. I was thinking of my daughters future and to help me when I am back in full time work which is not far off then I won't be claiming any benefits at all as opposed to people who make a whole life out getting benefits and not getting a job 😑

Well you did, you just chose to spend it on reinvestment instead of your bills. Thats your perogative of course but to be miffed that UC is now not stepping in to pay your bills is a bit cheeky.

so can you please explain the difference of me having that £3000 in an actual savings account rather than a pot I cant get access to when I want? I assume I still would get pretty much all of my entitlement every month from UC

I don’t think you fully understand the difference though OP, you can have money in savings, that’s not an issue.

This money that has impacted your UC is not your savings, it’s not savings at all, the money on the payslip is the GAIN from the matured shares- that is INCOME, not savings. What you’ve essentially done is say “I don’t want that money, you keep it for now” and that’s fine, you can choose to do that, but UC isn’t going to fund you turning down your own money to spend taxpayer money instead.

This. OP, you deliberately tried to take UC knowing that you've been given too much money, so you put the shares back to try and 'hide' them.

That was you trying to avoid being stopped even though you had more money than you are meant to. Why should they pay if you've got the shares?

Oh come on. You are in receipt of UC which is fine, but you don't get to look down on other people on UC as though you have the moral high ground here.

Excuse me, I havent "hidden" a thing!! I have INNOCENTLY told my company no I don't want to sell them I want to keep them in for the future I did not receive the money at all on the payslip its not pay to me they have taxed me on the gains and moved it back in. Like I have said, its way under the threshold your allowed to have in savings so I havent done anything wrong at all

But isn’t savings. It is income. It is, if you like, “new” money. That’s why your UC was adjusted. The savings thresholds are a red herring here.

And you did receive the money - that’s why it is on your pay cheque. You then reinvested it. It all just happened electronically.

You don’t seem to understand this OP- it’s not the same as having savings.

What you have done is say “I know that’s my money, but you can keep it”, and that’s fine, you’re allowed to do that- but UC don’t pay you to turn down your own money and spend taxpayer money.

You have done something wrong here, UC are correct.

It’s not savings, it’s income and it’s on your payslip. The fact you told them to hang on to it is irrelevant for UC. You have income money available to you, so you don’t need as much UC this month.

No I havent done anything wrong, if they choose to stick to their decision thats fine, they have given me what they think I am entitled to this month based on the gross pay on that payslip and not the nett. So please explain the difference to me if I had that £3k in a savings account - I would probably still receive the full entitlement every month no?

You would have had your UC deducted in the month that you earned that money (as you were here). You would not then be continuously deducted when it’s in savings as you’ve already had your deduction for it.

You have - you just decided to invest it in shares to hopefully gain more money. Why should tax payers facilitate that?

you have money but you refuse to use to so you can use the taxpayers money instead. Wow