Tax credits questions

[Rhian82]

I'm currently pregnant and looking into all the costs of when I'm off work, and then nursery etc when I come back to work. Just wondering if people that have experience with the confusing fun of tax credits could help me out with a couple of questions?

As I understand it, we'll be eligible for Child Tax Credit after the baby is born - if I apply for this straight away, how long is it likely to take to start getting money? Will it be dated from the birth? Is it paid weekly or monthly?

Also, is it affected by my maternity leave? ie, will the amount go down when I return to work?

if you apply straight away will be frpm birth (maximum backdate is 3 months)

ours is paid weekly

its affected by ncome for year so if you've averaged it out then will be same, if you've given current then will drop, oyswim?

the amount will totally depend on what you earn.

My own experience is that it didn't change as dh earn too much(not enough still but to them enough) Basically if you are not deemed on low income IIRC around £14-16K then it won't matter you'll just get the basic. That's assuming you are making a joint claim with dh/dp

BTW did you know you get a higher rate in the first year?

I'd expect to wait a couple of months after having the baby. You'll get the form at the hospital, even if you fill it in straight away the HMRC are slow. As peachy says they'll only backdate a claim 3 months so make sure you claim asap.

mine is paid into the bank 4 weekly. thats the norm unless you have a reason to have it weekly normally if you have a low income

Thank you! What is the 'basic' amount (we're not on a super-low income, but low enough to be eligible for them)?

Luckily my work does fairly good maternity stuff for the first couple of months of leave, so should be okay for the wait while they sort it out. Given the time they take, I assume the first payment ends up a larger one (ie 2/3 months worth in one go)?

Also, possibly stupid question - are you then taxed on these as income?!

it's roughly £10 a week but that's doubled in the first year. If you go onto HMRC website you can put all your figures in and it'll give you an idea of what you'll get. Just make up a date of birth for the baby, say 1st July 2008!

they will give more i the first payment and will then be the same.

It's not taxed.

BTW anyone earning up to about £55,000, joint income, is eligible. You might get working tax credits too(i'm not sure how they work as we don't get them!)

there's also a website called entitled to (dot co dot uk, i think) which can tell you what you can get.

hello

i applied for tax credits while i was pregnant and still at work. nothing came of it except they had my details on their system. it took about month of back and forth before they had all the details they required.

when i started maternity leave, i informed them of change of income,and i became eligible for working tax. again when baby was born i called and informed of birth and child tax credit started from dob.

i think this is probably a less stressful way of going about things than waiting till baby comes when ur mind will be elsewhere.

the money i get is paid monthly but i believe they only offer the weekly option to single parents (not 100% cetain about this tho)

the rates is difficult to determine even if u use one of those benefit calculation websites because it is based on personal circumstances but you always call them and ask.

hope that helps

They base the amount you get on the previous year's wages from what I recall, with a year being April-April. So although you are on mat leave, this wont affect the amount you will get until the following year. Ie if you put in a claim with LO being born tomorrow, they will want wage details from April 07 - April 08.

Sorry - missed something! In relaton to my last post about it relating to last years wages...I think this might be why you get more in first year? To encourage people to stay at home longer on low maternity pay?

It is based on the previous years income but if your current income is less(or alot more) than last years than they will base it on an estimated inme for the current year.

e.g you earned £100,000 last year but only expected to get £1,000 this year- you wouldnt receive anything based on last years income but obviously would need to be paid something to survive on!

At the end of the ear tax credits will check actual earnings against those estimate to check te right amount has been paid. Alot of overpayments happen because of underestimating income for the current year.

pavlov. you get more in the first year as there is a special 'baby' rate.

I didn't think you could apply BEFORE the baby was born Personally I wouldn't as why faff around giving them bits of detail here and there. Just wait til you know everything and then apply. You'll have to fill out the child benefit form AFTER the baby is born so it'll make little difference. I suppose you could get the form and fill most of it in before the baby is born TBH HMRC won't process a change of address until after you've moved so I can't see them wanting to know before the baby is here

We get ours weekly, 2 parents but it may be different due to SN? cant remember if we had it paid weekly before? but back then we were on manual payments becuase of an old bank problem.

It now states at the top of the renewal form that if your income drops you shopuld tell them immediately so you can get more, it says you do not need to tell them about a rise but fwiw I tell them everything as I am paranoid about being left penniless by them