Maintenance when on benefits

[theredhen]

Can someone explain what a resident parent would be entitled to in the following scenarios because I'm getting lots of conflicting advise, including from the CSA itself!

Nrp on income support / child tax credit and doing some part time work.

Nrp on Jsa and child tax credit and claiming to not be working.

Nrp on working tax credit and. Child tax credit and having some employment/self employment income.

Nrp has no partner living with them.

Thanks.

Ok - scenario 1; why is the NRP receiving child tax credit if they are NRP with no partner living with them? Are they RP for DCs from another relationship?

Yes, they have other children living with them.

Is it a "new" case, one under the post-2003 rules or set up before 2003?

Assuming it is post-2003 but not "new", I'm fairly sure it works like this:

Scenario 1, the NRP would be assessed at the flat rate (£5 a week) because they are receiving income support.

Scenario 2: Same as above, as the NRP is receiving JSA (this was the case when my DP was on JSA)

Scenario 3: the income of the NRP is assessed by the CSA including WTC and CTC, and assessed at the Flat Rate (if weekly income is below £100), Reduced Rate (weekly income below £200) or Standard Rate (weekly income above £200)

All then adjusted to take into account nights the DC spends with the NRP.

this might help?

Thanks for that.

I think the confusion lies with tax credits, they're counted if Nrp is working but not if they're not.

Tax credits are supposed to be included, but not always are. The CSA sometimes don't bother including them even though they are supposed to. I would imagine if the NRPs income was made up mainly of tax credits though, they would be inclined to follow their rules and include them.

It works like this:

Child Tax Credits are always classed as the NRP's income. Regardless of any other circumstances.

Working Tax Credits will always be classed as the NRP's income if they are single.

If they are in a couple, Working Tax Credits are classed as the NRP's income if they are the higher earner. Half is included if the NRP earns the same as their partner. And none is included if the NRP earns less than their partner.

(This has been how it works since 2003. I don't know if there have been recent changes. There was mumblings of removing tax credits from calculations in new cases but nothing ever solid released.)

choc I disagree - if the NRP receives a qualifying benefit (income support, JSA etc) then that automatically places the NRP on a flat rate assessment - regardless of other circumstances.
It's usually the first question the CSA ask because then they don't have to carry out any further assessment.

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I was talking with regards to scenario 3.

Sorry choc - I'm a bit prickly this morning!

The CSA are catching up with the Tax Credit issue though, so it's probably best to disclose it up front. When DD and I moved in with DP, they adjusted his payments to take DD into account, but didn't ask about whether we were receiving CTC for DD.
Two years on, when DP was updating his details almost weekly when he was made redundant/receiving JSA etc they eventually make the connection and sent a letter asking for details of the Tax Credits that we had received during various periods - and are calculating the arrears as we speak
It's happened to my ex as well - he got a letter telling him he was in arrears despite being on salary deduction; it turns out that the CSA had found out that he has been in receipt of DD's CTC for a period, and he hadn't declared it as income. We'll probably end up using the arrears my ex pays me to clear the arrears that DP owes his ex - the system is totally bonkers!

It is terrible. I have known of people ringing and asking if their Tax Credits should be included and being told no by members of staff. They cannot include their tax credits and avoid arrears if the CSA will not include it when they ask. The CSA know their own rules, they should make sure all information is included when the calculation is done. There is nothing on any of the online calculators which say tax credits should be included.

I am not happy with tax credits being included (in certain circumstances) personally anyway.