Tax credits based on last year or now?

[tiredntetchy]

My dh has been in a very stressful job for past 2 yrs and has often felt he isn't able to cope but has remained dedicated to his position and knuckled down.

Last week he was told his competence for his position was in question and is now facing a disciplinary.

He now feels he cannot continue in this postion even if he is given the chance to as really he has given it everything he has and now they feel it is not enough, he has nothing left to give.

I am worried for his mental health as for past 2 years he has been under so much pressure and it has really affected him, now this has just broken him. He cannot sleep and is all over the place emotionally.

We have talked about him offering to take a demoted postion where he would be able to build his confidence again bt his involves a huge salary drop. We would only be able to manage this with the tax credits/child tax credits but would it be likely that for the first year we wouldn't get any help if they take last years income as the basis for award?

I have read the bit on their site about having a large drop in salary or increase of 25,000 then they will look at current years but it is very vague.

Anyone know more about this or have experience of this.

We have 3 kids all under 5 and i am sahm.

Thanks and sorry so long.

tax credits are normally based on the previous years income to start with and then once you start with them you can then inform them of any dramatic changes

so sorry you're having such a stressful time of it. alypaly is right, get a claim in and you'll have to give them the last tax year's details but then you can inform them of any drop in salary and they'll give you a new award for the current tax year. They will then review what money they've given you when they have the year end figures for 2010-11.

Be careful with the figures you give them for the current tax year as you don't want them to overpay you.

I hope your DH finds a solution to his problems at work

tiredntetchy, sorry to hear your DH is having a hard time

You can phone TCs and ask them to base your TCs on this years anticipated earnings.

What I do, because they are vital to us, is work out what I expect DH to earn, then add around 5-10% to cover any unexpected extra (he sometimes gets overtime because he couldn't leave on time, for e.g.).

What this means is that we get slightly less each week than we perhaps should, but at the end of the year, we get given a lump sum of whatever TCs owe us, which is a nice boost for the summer, and we don't get any overpayments.

Thanks for replies everyone. I spoke to someone at tc last week but she said they wouldn't be able to give me an estimate of what we'd get until the new tax year. Planning on ringing back tmrw.

Thanks for your help.

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