Help with change of circumstances and benefits

[witchwise]

Hello,

I am in full time work earning a gross of about £38,000. I have
started dating a woman who has an 11 year old and is currently
studying for a degree. She is in receipt of Income support for her and
her daughter of approximately £100 a week plus about £18 a week in
child benefit.

We are thinking of moving in together. Can anyone give me a rough idea
of how much working tax credits i may get (if any?) and what would
happen to her income support and child benefit if we were to become an
official couple.

I have been doing some reading about and i am a bit confused by
things. Having gone through the working tax calculator on the
government website it seems to say i wouldnt get any tax credits. If
this is the case they would obviously be completely dependant on me
and with a £1000 mortgage i dont think we could afford to live. This
doesn't seem quite right - so would she perhaps still get some of her
Income Support anyway?

Thanks for any information or pointers,
Dave

 

[Robbie]

Hello,

I am in full time work earning a gross of about £38,000. I have
started dating a woman who has an 11 year old and is currently
studying for a degree. She is in receipt of Income support for her and
her daughter of approximately £100 a week plus about £18 a week in
child benefit.

We are thinking of moving in together. Can anyone give me a rough idea
of how much working tax credits i may get (if any?) and what would
happen to her income support and child benefit if we were to become an
official couple.

I have been doing some reading about and i am a bit confused by
things. Having gone through the working tax calculator on the
government website it seems to say i wouldnt get any tax credits. If
this is the case they would obviously be completely dependant on me
and with a £1000 mortgage i dont think we could afford to live. This
doesn't seem quite right - so would she perhaps still get some of her
Income Support anyway?

Thanks for any information or pointers,
Dave

She won't get any Income Support as that is dependent on joint income
and your income far exceeds that amount.

You probably won't qualify for Tax Credits either as £38,000 is rather
high. Other people here may know better but I don't think you will qualify.

 

[Andy Pandy]

Hello,

I am in full time work earning a gross of about £38,000. I have
started dating a woman who has an 11 year old and is currently
studying for a degree. She is in receipt of Income support for her and
her daughter of approximately £100 a week plus about £18 a week in
child benefit.

We are thinking of moving in together. Can anyone give me a rough idea
of how much working tax credits i may get (if any?) and what would
happen to her income support and child benefit if we were to become an
official couple.

You will get screwed, basically.

You will get nothing in WTC. She will get about £10.50 a week CTC. The only
other thing which she'll keep will be child benefit which is not means tested.
So she'll get less than £30 a week.

She will also likely lose all her housing benefit/ISMI (mortgage interest
benefit) if she gets them.

I have been doing some reading about and i am a bit confused by
things. Having gone through the working tax calculator on the
government website it seems to say i wouldnt get any tax credits.

Just the family element of the CTC, £545 a year.

If
this is the case they would obviously be completely dependant on me
and with a £1000 mortgage i dont think we could afford to live. This
doesn't seem quite right - so would she perhaps still get some of her
Income Support anyway?

No. Income Support is assessed on joint income (when you're a couple living
together). You will be expected to support them. But because income tax is
assessed individually, not jointly, you will pay exactly the same amount of tax
as when you lived alone.

That's the way the system works in the UK. It really is that moronic.

And the government really are stupid enough to wonder why the UK has such a high
proportion of children being brought up in single parent households compared to
the rest of Europe.

 

[mart2306]

Hello,

I am in full time work earning a gross of about £38,000. I have
started dating a woman who has an 11 year old and is currently
studying for a degree. She is in receipt of Income support for her and
her daughter of approximately £100 a week plus about £18 a week in
child benefit.

We are thinking of moving in together. Can anyone give me a rough idea
of how much working tax credits i may get (if any?) and what would
happen to her income support and child benefit if we were to become an
official couple.

I have been doing some reading about and i am a bit confused by
things. Having gone through the working tax calculator on the
government website it seems to say i wouldnt get any tax credits. If
this is the case they would obviously be completely dependant on me
and with a £1000 mortgage i dont think we could afford to live. This
doesn't seem quite right - so would she perhaps still get some of her
Income Support anyway?

Thanks for any information or pointers,
Dave

Hmmm....maybe child tax credit would be payable? She may qualify for
student loans still but not entirely sure about student grants with
that salary.
Though as they seem to want only last financial year's figures this
year may be payable in full anyway.
Full time, as I recall, is about £6.5k max money coming in from
student grant and loan and bursary, payable in 3 payments.

£1k mortgage? Not too high then. Many families have only one wage
earner and manage. And there's always summer jobs for her, though
could involve some sort of childcare costs. Or maybe part time work
while the child is at school and she doesn't have degree stuff to do.

Martin <><

 

[mogga]

Hmmm....maybe child tax credit would be payable? She may qualify for
student loans still but not entirely sure about student grants with
that salary.
Though as they seem to want only last financial year's figures this
year may be payable in full anyway.

But it'd have to be repaid.

 

[mart2306]

But it'd have to be repaid.




--http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.ukhttp://www.holidayunder100.co.uk- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ummm...student loans are a bit odd. They don't have to be repaid,
ever.
If you don't have a single job paying at least £15k a year from the
April after your degree, you don't pay a penny. If you earn £15k or
more, some money is taken from your wages but can be less than the
interest charged (which is pretty low anyway).
And after 25 years, the debt is written off anyway. 24 years for my
wife, 23 years for me - we are both doing degrees and repayment starts
after each of us turns 40!

Or can refuse to have student loans at all - though the fees for
tuition are a little over £3k, the grant will almost cover that. Just
leaves you then having to get support from elsewhere, job, family or
charitable grants. But no student loan to pay.

Martin <><

 

[Robbie]

Ummm...student loans are a bit odd. They don't have to be repaid,
ever.
If you don't have a single job paying at least £15k a year from the
April after your degree, you don't pay a penny. If you earn £15k or
more, some money is taken from your wages but can be less than the
interest charged (which is pretty low anyway).
And after 25 years, the debt is written off anyway. 24 years for my
wife, 23 years for me - we are both doing degrees and repayment starts
after each of us turns 40!

Or can refuse to have student loans at all - though the fees for
tuition are a little over £3k, the grant will almost cover that. Just
leaves you then having to get support from elsewhere, job, family or
charitable grants. But no student loan to pay.

Martin <><

ah, that was the beauty of it all when I did a degree. This was before
student loans were introduced. I got a full grant and worked part time
in two different jobs (bookies on a Saturday and 2 nights a week in a
pub). I left uni with a £50 overdraft and nothing else to repay...

 

[mart2306]

ah, that was the beauty of it all when I did a degree. This was before
student loans were introduced. I got a full grant and worked part time
in two different jobs (bookies on a Saturday and 2 nights a week in a
pub). I left uni with a £50 overdraft and nothing else to repay...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ah, the old days when tuition was paid for you too, out of taxes. Just
think how much money the non-payment of so much fees leaves taxpayers
these days........
Come to think of it, taxes seem to be higher than they were 20 years
ago. Or maybe its just costs overall are that much different.

Martin <><

 

[Robbie]

Ah, the old days when tuition was paid for you too, out of taxes. Just
think how much money the non-payment of so much fees leaves taxpayers
these days........
Come to think of it, taxes seem to be higher than they were 20 years
ago. Or maybe its just costs overall are that much different.

Martin <><

And the idea was that after doing a degree the person would get a higher
paid job, thereby helping to repay the costs of his or her education
through the tax system.

Now we see many students doing mickey mouse degrees and then
deliberately taking a low paid job so no repayment of student loans have
to be made. The Government want more 18 year olds to go into higher
education but all we are turning out are highly educated burger flippers.

 

[mart2306]

And the idea was that after doing a degree the person would get a higher
paid job, thereby helping to repay the costs of his or her education
through the tax system.

Now we see many students doing mickey mouse degrees and then
deliberately taking a low paid job so no repayment of student loans have
to be made. The Government want more 18 year olds to go into higher
education but all we are turning out are highly educated burger flippers.

True, many don't get jobs paying enough to pay back loans.
Initially at least.

As for the future, who knows? Depending on ambition, opportunity and
skill base, someone can reach a higher paid job than perhaps they'd
get if they didn't get a degree at all.
Decades ago it was accepted practice for many people to leave school
with no qualifications and never need to get any. Who is to say what
we'd need in the next 40 or more years?

Martin <><

 

[Robbie]

True, many don't get jobs paying enough to pay back loans.
Initially at least.

As for the future, who knows? Depending on ambition, opportunity and
skill base, someone can reach a higher paid job than perhaps they'd
get if they didn't get a degree at all.
Decades ago it was accepted practice for many people to leave school
with no qualifications and never need to get any. Who is to say what
we'd need in the next 40 or more years?

Martin <><

But the Government want 60% plus of all 18 year olds to go onto uni.
That's far, far too many and there aren't enough higher paid jobs to
accommodate everyone. Eventually (well, it is already happening) people
just begin to take low paid jobs anyway, only this time with a degree.

Tax credits are the new way to a better paid job.

 

[mart2306]

But the Government want 60% plus of all 18 year olds to go onto uni.
That's far, far too many and there aren't enough higher paid jobs to
accommodate everyone. Eventually (well, it is already happening) people
just begin to take low paid jobs anyway, only this time with a degree.

Tax credits are the new way to a better paid job.

Of those who go to Uni, a small portion will go on further. We may not
need 30 million workers with degrees but we do need a large enough
number of people doing education to get the few who make the
difference.

And so long as employers get to decide what qualifications a job
should have, workers wanting those jobs will need degrees.

Tax credits are all right but do suffer from being variable. eg £100 a
week one year, next year might be £80 a week due to hours being
different (not necessarily pay being different).
Plus they have a kick off point. Be a single worker doing 25 hours a
week at £6 an hour, you get no tax credits. Add a 2nd job for 5 hours
a week and the tax credit system will reward you with a load of free
money.
Not sure of accountability either. Haven't signed a form for them in 4
years - simply give figures over the phone once a year.

Martin <><

 

[witchwise]

Hello,

Just to say many thanks to everyone for the information, suggestions
and replies.


Dave