| Child tax credits etc etc [message #375710] |
Di, 28 März 2006 12:44 |
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All,
My wife and I will be having our first child in July, and we are
looking for information on what we will be entitled to with regard to
tax credits etc. I have looked on the various gov websites, but its
never very clear - a little human advice will therefore go a long way !
Currently, joint income is approx =A355k (I am paid ~=A333k). My wife's
pay will be full for the first 3 months of maternity leave, and will
then drop to half (but plus statutory maternity pay meaning it will be
a smaller drop for another 3 months). She is returning to work part
time in the new year, and will be on approx =A315k.
Anyone able to indicate if we will qualify for any tax credits, 'family
allowance' etc etc ?
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #375711 ] |
Di, 28 März 2006 13:08 |
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<ginger_neil [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1143542673.855791.145160 [at] i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> All,
>
> My wife and I will be having our first child in July, and we are
> looking for information on what we will be entitled to with regard to
> tax credits etc. I have looked on the various gov websites, but its
> never very clear - a little human advice will therefore go a long way !
>
> Currently, joint income is approx £55k (I am paid ~£33k). My wife's
> pay will be full for the first 3 months of maternity leave, and will
> then drop to half (but plus statutory maternity pay meaning it will be
> a smaller drop for another 3 months). She is returning to work part
> time in the new year, and will be on approx £15k.
>
> Anyone able to indicate if we will qualify for any tax credits, 'family
> allowance' etc etc ?
You'll get £907pa child benefit (this is not means tested).
You'll also get some Child Tax Credit - but only the 'family' elements. This will be
£1090 in the first year then £545 - but these amounts will be reduced if your income
(tax-year) is over £50k, at the rate of 6.67% on income over £50k. I think SMP
doesn't count as income for tax credits purposes.
You may be able to get some tax relief on childcare costs when she goes back to work,
if your employer operates a scheme where they pay the childminder direct or via some
voucher scheme. Most do as it saves them NI. IIRC it's £55pw each, so £110pw in
total.
--
Andy
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #375718 ] |
Di, 28 März 2006 14:29 |
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Thanks for the reply - the numbers seem better than I thought they
would.
Are the forms fairly obvious, or will I need to hunt around for them ??
As for child care - I work for a large Telco and they do run a vouchers
scheme, but I'm unsure of the details at the moment other than the fact
that I prefered nursery is part ofthe scheme.
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #375723 ] |
Di, 28 März 2006 15:48 |
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<ginger_neil [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1143548975.219036.223810 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks for the reply - the numbers seem better than I thought they
> would.
> Are the forms fairly obvious, or will I need to hunt around for them ??
IIRC the child benefit forms are handed out at the hospital - they probably hand out
tax credit forms too now. Otherwise have a look at the IR site
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ - they deal with both child benefit and tax credits now.
> As for child care - I work for a large Telco and they do run a vouchers
> scheme, but I'm unsure of the details at the moment other than the fact
> that I prefered nursery is part ofthe scheme.
They usually pay the nursery direct and deduct the money from your wages, saving you
tax and NI (and them NI) on the first £55.
--
Andy
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #375746 ] |
Di, 28 März 2006 20:56 |
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"Andy Pandy" <spam8times [at] wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:48st5sFloeroU1 [at] individual.net...
>
> <ginger_neil [at] hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1143548975.219036.223810 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
>> Thanks for the reply - the numbers seem better than I thought they
>> would.
>> Are the forms fairly obvious, or will I need to hunt around for them ??
>
> IIRC the child benefit forms are handed out at the hospital - they
> probably hand out
> tax credit forms too now. Otherwise have a look at the IR site
> http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ - they deal with both child benefit and tax
> credits now.
>
>> As for child care - I work for a large Telco and they do run a vouchers
>> scheme, but I'm unsure of the details at the moment other than the fact
>> that I prefered nursery is part ofthe scheme.
>
> They usually pay the nursery direct and deduct the money from your wages,
> saving you
> tax and NI (and them NI) on the first £55.
>
It's really important that you submit a claim promptly (it can always be
amended later) because they will not entertain backdating more than 3
months.
So ideally claim now, but in any event no later than 5/7/06.
--
Martin
[Remove barrier to reply]
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #375905 ] |
Do, 30 März 2006 00:07 |
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> It's really important that you submit a claim promptly (it can always be
> amended later) because they will not entertain backdating more than 3
> months.
>
> So ideally claim now, but in any event no later than 5/7/06.
Claim now ?! Surely I have to have a birth certificate.. or at least an
actual child ?!
I was intending to get the forms sorted and then put them in as soon as
the big day comes...
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #375913 ] |
Do, 30 März 2006 01:15 |
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"NC" <NC [at] home.com> wrote in message news:XKWdnViD7MmXmLbZRVny3w [at] bt.com...
>> It's really important that you submit a claim promptly (it can always be
>> amended later) because they will not entertain backdating more than 3
>> months.
>>
>> So ideally claim now, but in any event no later than 5/7/06.
>
> Claim now ?!
Well - that's my advice. Remember you are applying for WTC as well as CTC.
Just enter number of kids as zero, and then amend when you have the birth
certificate. (Or certificates - twins by any chance...?!)
Life will be hectic when you have the new arrival(s) - so if you forget to
claim promptly, at least you should be able to back-date it.
> I was intending to get the forms sorted and then put them in as soon as
> the big day comes...
So long as you don't forget...!!
--
Martin
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #375942 ] |
Do, 30 März 2006 13:24 |
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You _can't_ claim before the birth. First register the birth. Also
don't forget to claim for child benefit. We got a form from the
hospital as part of the general "free gifts package".
They can back-date the claim a few weeks so don't panic in the first
fortnight! I found the Child Tax Credit helpline very helpful and the
advisors very friendly (it was only the first year CTCs came in that
they were overloaded).
If you earn 33K you probably won't get WTC (but the helpline will go
through everything with you).
Childcare vouchers will be administered by your employer (or they'll
pay someone to run the scheme) so chat to them about it.
Thom
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #375956 ] |
Do, 30 März 2006 18:40 |
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In message of Thu, 30 Mar 2006, Thom writes
>
>You _can't_ claim before the birth.
If you're talking about tax Credits, then, YES you can claim before the
birth. Anyone can make a claim - you don't need children - and you could
be earning £100K. You wouldn't get anything but your claim would stand.
This is a good stance to take for Self Employed with fluctuating
profits, because if there is a bad year with a sudden drop in profits
they will get WTC from the beginning of the relevant tax year (payments
backdated). If there was no claim in place then the claim can only be
backdated 3 months, and often Self-employed don't know how bad a bad
year is until sometime later when the accountant draws the accounts up.
>They can back-date the claim a few weeks
13 to be precise.
DF
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #375959 ] |
Do, 30 März 2006 20:11 |
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"David Floyd" <david [at] floyd.org.uk> wrote in message
news:QY8I00ECoALEFwwv [at] 127.0.0.1...
> In message of Thu, 30 Mar 2006, Thom writes
>>
>>You _can't_ claim before the birth.
>
> If you're talking about tax Credits, then, YES you can claim before the
> birth. Anyone can make a claim - you don't need children - and you could
> be earning £100K. You wouldn't get anything but your claim would stand.
> This is a good stance to take for Self Employed with fluctuating profits,
> because if there is a bad year with a sudden drop in profits they will get
> WTC from the beginning of the relevant tax year (payments backdated). If
> there was no claim in place then the claim can only be backdated 3 months,
> and often Self-employed don't know how bad a bad year is until sometime
> later when the accountant draws the accounts up.
>
>>They can back-date the claim a few weeks
> 13 to be precise.
>
> DF
To the OP....
DF is quite right - hence my earlier suggestion you apply now.
These were / are known (informally) as protective claims - cos it gets you
into the system, whereupon backdating isn't limited. Remember that, after
year -end, your circumstances are re-assessed on current rather than
preceding year basis, and any TC award applies to the full year, if you had
already registered.
And it can be equally useful for employed, as well as self employed, since
income can drop substantially (eg redundancy etc), but any benefit would at
best only be back-dated 3 months if you hadn't previously filed a protective
claim.
--
Martin
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #377685 ] |
Mo, 03 April 2006 14:15 |
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I was referring CTC (which was the subject of the OP's query). You
can't claim before the birth. You'll need the date of birth and other
details such as the name of the child. You can claim WTC - though the
OP is unlikely to get any. If you claim before the birth you'd still
have to make a revised claim after.
Thom
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| Re: Child tax credits etc etc [message #377689 ] |
Mo, 03 April 2006 15:43 |
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In message of Mon, 3 Apr 2006, Thom writes
>
>I was referring CTC (which was the subject of the OP's query). You
>can't claim before the birth. You'll need the date of birth and other
>details such as the name of the child. You can claim WTC - though the
>OP is unlikely to get any. If you claim before the birth you'd still
>have to make a revised claim after.
No you don't - you just have to notify a change in circumstances.
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