benefits calculator confusion

[BellaBoo0512]

I am currently employed and my maternity pay ends in November. OH works 39 hours per week and brings in £240 after tax. We currently get child benefit and child tax credit which totals to about £45 per week. I've been on the HMRC website to find out what will happen when I go back to work.

I work 24 hours per week over 3 days. It's going to cost £120 per week for nursery and according to the HMRC tax calculator it says we can claim £22 towards childcare. Does this sound correct? I'd read that you get upto 70% towards childcare. It is going to cost me £22 per week for my bus pass to get to work which is 3 buses each way and I will have to drop LO off at nursery myself (OH starts at 7.45am and nursery only opens at 7.30am so he wont have time) so it's going to take me about 2.5 hours to get to work.

I did all the sums and we are only going to be £17 pw better off if I go back to work. If I don't go back then we will be able to manage off OH's wages and the child benefit and tax credits we currently receive. I just feel as though i'll be working to pay for my sons nursery so I may as well stay at home with him a while longer.

Does this sound right though? I really thought we would get more than £22 towards childcare! Maybe the tax calculator isn't accurate?! I put all the information in correct from our P60's so I didn't use estimate amounts.

 

[Pearls18]

Up to 70% is on a gradient so it depends on your wages not everyone gets 70% it's done on your previous year income so if you've put your income in the calculator as your usual annual income it will be wrong, remember the first £100 a week of maternity is discounted, so at least for the next year you should get quite a but if help. Also don't forget to divide the total they give of you if on hmrc website by the number of weeks left in the financial year, not 52. They're very helpful on the phone.

 

[RubyLouise]

I thought 70% was for lone parents. I'm not very clued up tho. Xx

 

[Pearls18]

No couples can get up to 70% but as I say depends on your income

 

[BellaBoo0512]

Ah right I didn't know that, thank you. I didn't put my usual annual income I put the amount off my p60 but I was off sick from November till I started maternity in February so I'm not sure what total I should of put. It's all so confusing!

 

[Pearls18]

If you ring up they are really good at explaining, but if you work out how many weeks you were on maternity leave in the financial year and x by £100 you can deduct that from the amount. Not sure about sick pay.

 

[BellaBoo0512]

If you ring up they are really good at explaining, but if you work out how many weeks you were on maternity leave in the financial year and x by £100 you can deduct that from the amount. Not sure about sick pay.

Okay thank you ill give them a ring this week. I was only on maternity leave for 5 weeks out of the financial year so I don't think it will make much difference but ill give them a call and see what they say. If I decide not to go back to work and ring HMRC and tell them my new circumstances, will they change my tax credit amount or will I have to wait till April? I am completely clueless when it comes to things like this.

 

[Pearls18]

They may let you do it on your projected earnings for this year, so work out how much you will have earned 2013-2014 and tell them that, because if they go by last year you'd get a big back payment for the year when you renew. If you decide not to go back to work remember you might not get many tax credits because last year you would have earned if that makes sense. You don't have to wait until April it's best to tell them things ASAP although you usually have to wait for the change to have taken place (I.e. when you maternity pay has ended).

 

[BellaBoo0512]

Okay, thank you so much! So could I wind up getting less tax credits if I don't go back to work? At the moment we get around £25pw based on last years income but this years will be lower. Sorry for all the questions!

 

[Pearls18]

If you've told them you are on maternity leave then you are still technically working so the tax credits you are getting now will be different to the ones you will or won't get not working. It's hard to know without knowing your incomes etc.

 

[BellaBoo0512]

I've worked it out that our income for 2013-2014 will be £18,293. Hubby's annual wage is £13,780 and my maternity from April to when it ends will be £4,513. So do I need to ring the tax office and give them this amount instead of my last years annual wage which was £9,056?

 

[Pearls18]

With that income I would be really surprised if you didn't get a lot more help with your childcare than £22 a week, we get £310 a month for £724 a month fees and our income is a fair bit more than that so def give them a ring hun. Work out your pre tax income for last year and your projected income for this year and I am certain you will get more than £22 a week if you are paying registered childcare.

 

[BellaBoo0512]

Okay thank you I will give them a ring and see what they say if we get more than £22pw towards childcare then it will be worthwhile going back to work