TAX CREDIT CLAIMANTS OF ANY FLAVOUR - C'MERE. <Shouting to get your attention, not in irritation>

[snigger]

Right.

A bit of outreach work here.

As a current advisor, can I just sit you all down and give you your best shot at a trouble free renewal period?

I know there can be errors/bad advisors/renewal packs eaten by dogs, but if you follow this advice you have every chance of things going smoothly, and perhaps my colleagues and I will get a moment between calls between now and September.

(1) Your renewal pack will be issued before 30th June. Go write that on the calendar. If you haven't received it by then, phone up. Don't join the 1000's who clog the phone lines saying "Have you sent me mine yet? Didn't I do this last year?"

(2) If you've phoned up and given an estimate of your 2009/2010 income - THIS IS NOT A RENEWAL.

You've only done your renewal once you've received the annual review pack, checked that your details are all up to date, then phoned in with your income.

(3) Following on from that - PLEASE CHECK YOUR DETAILS ON THE ANNUAL REVIEW. So many people call three years later to tell us they're married/their childcare stopped a decade ago/their kids are all in work of their own. Check.

(4) Write down the date you phone in with your renewal. If you haven't received TWO award notices, (one for 2009/2010 saying finalised award, one for 2010/2011 saying award notice) within three weeks of your call - PHONE BACK.

(5) If you get an automatic renewal that asks you to check your income is within set bandings (eg "Was your income for 2009/2010 lower than £28000 or higher than £75000?") you don't need to call if nothing's changed and the income's within limits. If something has changed, or income's out, PHONE BEFORE JULY 31st - if you don't, it'll auto-renew, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

(6) If you've claimed with a partner/partners, then on your own, at any point between April 6th 2009 and April 5th 2010, even just for one day, you have to renew each and every claim for them to be finalised. Make sure you mention it to the advisor - we're supposed to check, but it's crazy busy, people call in with a years worth of changes, and it's easy to forget.

OK. That's me. I honestly, sincerely, hope that this helps, and if it prevents even one avoidable overpayment, or frees up the phonelines from unnecessary calls, it'll have been worth all the typing.

Best of luck.

thanks so much for that snigger, very very helpful. and thanks again for this thread.

LynetteScavo - by last years income, do you mean 2008/09 or 2009/10?

Your award is always based on the income declared for the previous tax year. So, for instance, if a claimant declared £5k income for 2008/2009, their 2009/2010 award would be based on that income. The only variation would be if the 2009/2010 income was lower, or more than £25000 higher that 08/09. If your income went up in the last tax year only, you shouldn't have been overpaid.

Inevitably, as we are now in 2010/11 tax year, the awards are now based on 2009/10 income. If the income is higher, the award might be lower.

One point to note is that if you didn't give an estimate of your 2009/2010 income at any point in the last tax year, the system will have provided an estimate for you. Your provisional payments, that is the payments you receive from 6th April till the date you renew your claim, are based on this figure. So, if you didn't give an estimate, and the figure has jumped, you could be receiving too much just now, but nothing can be done at this stage as 2009/2010 income can now only be adjusted by renewal of the claim. So check your most recent award notice - toward the back it will give you your 'provisional payments for 2010/11' and the income they're based on. If that income is substantially lower than what you think you'll declare at renewal, you're possibly being overpaid, and should (a) renew as soon as you get the paperwork and (b) accomodate the fact that your payments may crash after renewal.

I'm so sorry I can't put it any simpler than that - I'm much better verbally.

tootootired - you must have given an estimated income at last years renewal. If you don't provide actual figures before 31st January, your claim is finalised on your estimates, too late to change anything now, and won't have an impact on your award other than to finalise it and release any potential payments outstanding if your 2008/2009 figures were lower than the previous years.

Thank you snigger.

smokinaces - your regular 'payday' should always stay the same. If you make changes, you may be subject to a 'one-off payment' - this happens because after a change, even just your childminders address, the system recalculates your award. It checks the remaining payment dates available, divides your recalculated award across these dates, and pays the remainder on the first available date. This can be confusing, and if your change doesn't affect your award total, can obviously reduce your remaining payments.

MrsDinky - Renewal dates can vary so always check your annual review pack, but the classic standard dates are 31st July, extended to 31st January if you could only provide estimates. If you don't complete the renewal by 31st July your payments will more than likely stop, but can be reinstated for a very short period of time.

Best bet is to gather your income details now, and phone as soon as you get the renewal, because the phone go into meltdown from the first of July to be honest.

The two copies issue is being addressed, this year I believe, as well as the award notice being shrunk to A5 size. Previously, I think there were legalities involved in making sure both signatories to a claim were advised of changes in writing but that's been dealt with and change is afoot!

You'd be surprised how many blokes phone up to yell at us though, saying they never signed anything, never received any money etc, etc.

thankyou snigger.
i also got 5 years worth of back pay in march which has bumped my earning up by over 2k. thats going to effect it too now wish i was just on a set salary but nhs nights and weekends, never knowing exactly how much my wages will be year to year is a pain.

Thank you. We don't have exact figures for DH's self employed income until he's done his tax return, also with the deadline of 31st Jan the following year. In fact I think I remember saying "er I need those figures for the tax credit" just as he was trying to submit the returns and getting a short sharp answer!

Depends what strand of JSA you're receiving. Check with DWP/JCP if you're getting income based or contribution based. If it's income based, make sure we have the start date on the system. If it's contribution based (more likely if you're claiming after being in work, or have an earning partner working over 16hrs), it's taxable and should be declared and will be included in your calculation.

Check this one carefully, folks - people have been badly stung by blithely announcing they're on income based benefits when they're not, and because income based benefits cause the tax credits system to disregard any other income during that period, if you get it wrong, you could become seriously unstuck. If you're on a contribution based benefit (ESA/JSA/Carers Allowance/Incapacity Benefit for example) it should show on your award notice as income from taxable social security benefits.

Again, check check check and if in doubt phone the helpline, and insist on verbal confirmation of the details - that way if we get it wrong, it's recorded, and you've got some comeback.

Thank you Snigger, I get problems because DH often doesn't get his P60 from the accountant (small firm) for several months, then he leaves it on his desk at work for weeks. My payments are stopped at the moment anyway because I was made redundant and am SAHM at the moment so it's all a bit academic but want to keep the claim going in case I get another job. We never know what our income will be year to year, what with maternity leaves, variable bonuses and now redundancy.

Glad to know they are doing something about the volume of paper. I have to say, that although I found it all horrendously confusing for the first few years and made lots and lots of mistakes, the people on the phone have never been anything but helpful and have always got me sorted out, even when I have realised I got something wrong 2 years down the line. I do think it is not surprising so many errors get made when it is all so difficult to understand.

Snigger could you do a weekly slot ?
Thanks for the thread.

Hi Snigger,

I have a quick question. DW is due to bring our first baby into the world any day now (due yesterday!)

When I am filling in the tax credits form, does my monthly car allowance (£412 - taxable) go towards my total earnings for any given tax year? My job requires me to use my own car as an Area Manager and this payment is to go towards the cost of running the car. I also have a company fuel card.

Thanks in advance.

hi there, I wonder if you could answer my question as I have tried the government site and I am going round in circles ..

How much can you have in savings and claim tax and working tax credits ?
thankyou J.

Hi Snowball, Snigger might come along with a better answer, but I am pretty sure that savings don't matter, it is all related to taxable income. If your non-earned but still taxable income (eg interest from non ISA savings, dividends from shares etc is more than a certain amount, I think £200) you have to declare it, but not the amount you have saved.

Thankyou I will look into it.
Is it different if you are made redundant ?

I was made redundant in the current tax year, but because I have decided to stay at home for a year my credits have stopped anyway. I guess your redundancy money is all in the figures on your P45 which is what you enter on your claim. I am going to sort mine all out when the annual return form appears.

I mean the last tax year, forgot it had just changed.

snigger can I just say, thanks everso much for giving up your free time to do this. It's been really helpful and I'm very grateful.

ThanksToSniggerWhoIsFabTiggaxx

I was told that I am only entitled to 20 pounds childcare. I have no clue about child tax, working tax, this element and that element.

We have a mortgage, one child, have a household income of 27000 if only my husband works.

It will be too expensive for me to go back to work as I will have a stressfull job full time and after childcare take home about 100 pounds which go on travel to work anyway.

It is very hard. Just cant believe this. But this is how it is....

We waited years before we had a child and bought a house because we wanted a manageable mortgage and a place for our child. Guess those were wrong choices.

Good thread ...and very helpful.

Quick question ....i no longer want to claim credits....do i just not fill out the new fom ...or do i have to do something else??

Thanks in advance

Hi Snigger

This is a very useful thread and has already cleared up a lot of my questions about tax credits, thanks! I do have one thing to ask you though - can you tell me if maintenance grants (ie. non-taxable studentships) for postgraduate study are considered as income or for tax credits purposes?

Although I don't pay tax/insurance on my studentship, I do have to use childcare to cover the days that I have to work on my PhD, and so in effect I am working as though employed, but not an official employee if that makes sense. If you know about this, I would be really grateful to find out.

bump