working tax credit

A question about : working tax credit

Can anyone offer advise about working tax credit. What is the criteria for qualifying

Best answers:

• You (or your partner if you have one) have to be in full time work.
  Your income has to be below a certain level.
  You have to be a UK resident not subject to immigration control.
  Full-time work = 16 hours if you have a child, a disability or are at least 50 years old. 30 hours if you are age 25 or over.
  See here for more info Tax Credits Online
• can you advise me on behalf of my cousin. she is 51 years of age, earns Ј72 per week and is single. do you think she would qualify
• As she is at least 50 she could qualify if she works at least 16 hours if she qualifies for the 50-plus element.
  To qualify for this you must be:
  * Have been in receipt of JSA, IS, IB, SDA or state retirement pension plus the minimum income guarantee for at least 6 months (in a row or consecutive periods adding up to 6 months) ending immediately before you started work
  * Or someone else was receiving an increase in their JSA, etc (same as above) in respect of you for at least 6 months before you started work
  * Or for at least 6 months immediately before you started work you were entitled to and credited with national insurance contributions or earnings
  * Or for a period immediately before you started work either someone else was receiving an increase in their IS, etc (as above) or you were entitled to be redited with NI earnings or credits AND
  - For a period immediately before this you or your partner were receiving carer's allowance, bereavement allowance or widowed parent's allowance and these periods add up to 6 months.
  This element is payable for only a 12 month period starting when you return to work. A lower rate is payable if you work between 16 and 29 hours.
  Sorry its all stated like that which is rather complicated to say the least!
  If all that sounds like she possibly could then try the calculator thingy on the link.
• i got married last year,so we told the tax office of a difference in our circumstances,we already had a boy of 1 year old.i was asked for my national insurance number and was told that they would caculate my income,they worked out my basic pay and payed us an that,then last week i received a letter telling me i owed them 400 quid because i had done a bit of overtime during the year,for what they give us and the extra tax i payed on my overtime i would not have bothered my !!! applying for this benifit,i am sick of seeing adverts telling you to apply for this and that,why apply when you end up worse off.as for the tax office they can go and whistle for the 400 quid,tony blair you are a joke,at least dick turpin wore a mask to rob people!!
• Dermot
  I can understand why you feel mad about it, but you are dealing with the Inland Revenue and they will chase you for the money. You could go to CAB or similar to check that the amounts are correct (take income details with you) and they could help negotiate payments.
• Any one know why they make it 25, Im almost 24 work 37.5 hours a week and just moved into a flat off my own for the first time so this would have really helped.
• Brett
  The 25 year old rule is for WTC for families without children (families with children can be any age). WTC is aimed at tackling in-work poverty. The Government view is that young people on low income is not a sign of poverty, it is just part of the normal working life-cycle (you start on low income and work your way up to higher incomes). Supplementing income at a younger age would also stifle ambition and make people benefit dependent at an early stage of their life (leading to a benefit dependency culture).
  Furthermore, if you are young and without children, you have more flexibility to reduce your essential outgoings by sharing houses with others etc.
  Of course, the other issue is that giving WTC to anyone under 25 on low income would be very expensive!
  My personal view is that the Government is right that their prime obligation is to tackle child poverty, so there needs to be an age limit for those without children. However I think you can argue about whether 25 is the right cut-off, rather than some arbitrary number which contains costs.
  irs
• irs - we could do with you further down the board on vent - will someone give me a free child
  seriously i'd just like to say thanks for the replies you have given, for any queries on here..
  edited to say and thanks also to fran,ted and anyone else who has been able to offer advice,guidance best wishes etc
• Oh, don't go saying things like that.....I hardly have enough time to look at the boards I do at the moment. Don't want to add any more to my "collection" (although did have a quick look at that thread).
  I try and put my own views aside on this board. People who come here are normally asking what they are entitled to, or for advice on dealing with IR - they want facts. I guess I picked that up from Fran and Ted, having hung around for a while before posting.
  And while there are some aspects of TCs that I agree with (the large amounts of help available for those on very low incomes and with disabilities) there are many other aspects that I don't......don't get me started on childcare plus you know there is something wrong with the policy when some people are using it to get tax relief of nearly 80% on their pension contributions!! As half of a childless couple, I also have some sympathy for the feeling that I am paying for everyone elses children (although I'm lucky enough to have some knowledge to help me minimise the amount of tax I pay).
  But this is irrelevant. I know about TC entitlement in depth, so that's what I help out with. Whether I think it's a good policy or not, I am a big supporter of people getting what they are entitled to (and there are plenty who aren't because TCs are so complicated). Plus it's sort of me giving something back for all the advice I've gleaned from other boards.
  But thanks, it's nice to be appreciated (even though I've not been here very long).
  irs
• i am nearly 59 i have worked all my life and in november i changed my job cos of stress, i am working 37.05 hours with not much chance of overtime i pick up only Ј728.00 a month ive been told i can get working tax credit as i live alone and i earn only Ј9.500 a year.I am not in good health now IE: asthma, and arthritis.i am Ј2.000 a year down on what i used to earn but my p60 for last year will show differently what can i do? i have also been told that i can claim disabilty working allowance but i dont think i can as i havent been out of work and on long term sick. If i get working tax credit can i also claim for rent rebate as all my income goes on bills and i have nothing left for food and end up hitting my credit card which is mounting up. im desperate!!!!!!!!!!!!
• my wife and I have 4 young children aged between 1-11 we currently get aronud Ј130 p/w wtc my wife now is about to start a new full time 40 hour a week job paying just over Ј5-50 p/h can any of you advise me on how much this will affect my wtc and how do we qualify for child care costs please. we both will be working full time of 37 and 40 hrs pw
• Hi
  I only have one question. I had been receiving WTC until August this year. My son is 16 and is staying on at school doing his advanced highers, but my money has stopped, as apparently, he is no longer classed as a child. Is this correct? Nothing else has changed, he still lives with me, eats the same amount of food, dirties the same amount of clothes and gives the usual amount of cheek, but now I get nothing to help support us both.
  Your comments would be appreciated.......thanks
• For future reference it would be better if you started a new thread of your own, apart from the fact the one you've posted on is over 2 years old you will get more answers on your own thread.
  If you haven't notified WTC that your child was continuing in full time education then they would automatically stop this benefit assuming he had gone into work. You'll probably need to reapply as your claim will have been closed but it may be worth a call to see what they suggested.
  Presumably you'll need to do the same with Child Benefit
  Sam