Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit

• Child Tax Cedit (CTC)
• Working Tax Credit (WTC)
• Basis of assessment
• Income for Tax Credit purposes
• 2012/13 rates and thresholds
• Child tax credit per year
• Example

Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit

Tax Credits are administered by HM Revenue & Customs, and will run until 2014 for existing claimants. These credits have nothing to do with the tax system and are not connected with how much tax you pay, although overpayments of tax credits are collected as if they were tax due.

The general rule is that to qualify for tax credits you must be aged 16 or over and usually live in the United Kingdom. To receive your entitlement to tax credits, you need to claim them using a paper form TC600. If you don't already have a claim pack you can get one by telephoning 0800 500 222.

Couples (a man and woman, or two men or two women living together as a couple whether married or in a civil partnership or not) must claim tax credits jointly, and entitlement will be based on the combined income of both partners.

Child Tax Credit (CTC)

CTC can be claimed by families with at least one child. The amount of income you can have as a couple and still receive CTC will depend on the particular family circumstances. Broadly speaking, a couple with one child where there is at least one full time working parent will receive CTC for income of up to £25,675.

It provides support for:

• Children until 1 September after their 16th birthday
• Children aged 16 to 18 who are in full time ‘non-advanced' education (i.e. studying for at least 12 hours a week and the course leads to A level, NVQ level 3, or below)
• Children aged 16 to 18 who have left full time education but do not have a job or training place and have registered with the Careers Service or Connexions Service, and are not claiming Income Support or tax credits in their own right.

The amount of benefit is dependent on the number of children in the family, whether they have disabilities, and the total family income. It will be paid direct to the person who cares for the children.

CTC is made up of the following elements: A family element that is payable to any family responsible for a child. A child element for each child the family is responsible for. This is paid at a higher rate if the child has a disability and at an enhanced rate for a child with a severe disability.

CTC will be paid directly through a bank account to the person who is mainly responsible for caring for the children in the family, either weekly or every four weeks.

The following table shows the range of amounts receivable:

Annual amounts receivable
Gross annual joint income	One child	Two children	Three children
£15,860	£3,235	£5,925	£8,615

Families with children are still able to claim child benefit, which is unaffected by, and continues to be paid separately from tax credits.

Working Tax Credit (WTC)

WTC is a tax credit for people in paid work who are on a relatively low income (for couples, joint income), including those with a disability It also includes support for the cost of eligible childcare.

WTC is for people who are employed or self employed (either on their own or in partnership) who:

• Usually work 24 hours or more a week
• Are paid for that work, and
• Expect to work for at least 4 weeks.

and who are:

• 16 or over and responsible for at least one child, or
• Aged 16 or over and disabled, or
• Aged 25 or over and usually work at least 30 hours a week.

There are some exceptions for a couple where one is disabled or a full time carer, allowing fewer hours to qualify for WTC.

WTC includes a basic element and a range of extra elements (see the table below).

WTC is paid to the person who is working 16 or more hours a week. Claims are paid directly into employees' bank, building society or Post Office card accounts. Couples where both work 16 hours or more a week may choose which of them will receive it. Claimants will receive their payments directly from HM Revenue & Customs. The childcare element of WTC will always be paid direct to the person who is mainly responsible for caring for the child or children, alongside payments of CTC.

Basis of assessment

Tax credit awards are based initially on income for the previous year. At the end of the tax year, when income for the year is known, the tax credits position is finalised. Any increase in income will be ignored to the extent of £10,000, but income above this limit will result in a reassessment, with additional payments made to top up the original award, or repayments due from those who have been overpaid. From 2012, the first £2,500 of reduction in income is also disregarded in adjusting the award after the end of the year.

During the year:

• If income rises significantly, you should tell HM Revenue & Customs so that the award can be adjusted. Otherwise, you may receive too much tax credit and have to pay it back when the award is finalised at the end of the year.
• If income falls, you can ask to have your tax credits paid on the basis of an estimate of your income for the year. But if you do that, you will have to tell HM Revenue & Customs straight away if you think your income will be higher than your estimate.
• Any relevant change in circumstances must be notified to HM Revenue & Customs within one month. Claims will be adjusted to reflect any change in circumstances.

Income for Tax Credit purposes

Income is broadly aligned with the claimant's gross taxable income (i.e. before the deduction of income tax and National Insurance Contributions). Earnings will be taken from P60 certificates for employees and self assessment returns for self employed claimants. There are, however, exceptions to the alignment, including:

• Not all benefits in kind are included.
• The first £100 of statutory maternity pay (and their new equivalents) does not count.
• Apart from earnings and taxable social security benefits, most other annual income is taken into account only to the extent that it exceeds £300.
• Contributions to approved pension schemes and payments under the Gift Aid scheme are deducted (gross amount).

It is very important to understand that tax credits cannot be backdated for more than one month. Please ask us for further information regarding failing deadlines or refer to the tax credit website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits

2012/13 rates and thresholds

Working Tax Credit 1	Per year
Basic element	£1,920
Additional couple's and lone parent element	£1,950
30 hour element3	£790
Disabled worker element	£2,790
Severe disability element	£1,190
Childcare element
- maximum eligible cost	£300 p.w.
- maximum eligible cost for 1 child	£175 p.w.
- percentage of eligible costs covered	70%

Notes

1. The elements for which claimants are eligible can be added together to arrive at the maximum amount of tax credit available.
2. For those over 60 and over this reduces to 16 hours.

Child tax credit per year

Child Tax Credit	Per year
Family element 1	£545
Child element 2	£2,690
Disabled child element 2	£2,950
Severely disabled child element 2	£1,190

Notes

As well as the family element, a family will be entitled to a child element for each child for whom it has responsibility. For each child, the child elements which are appropriate may be added together to arrive at the maximum amount available for that child.

Common features	Per year
Income threshold	£6,420
Withdrawal rate	41%
First threshold for those entitled to Child Tax Credit only	£15,860
Income disregard - increases in income	£10,000
Income disregard - reductions in income	£2,500

Those with income below the withdrawal threshold will be paid the full amount of tax credits available for their circumstances. Those with income over the threshold will have their maximum tax credit award tapered away by 41p for every excess £1 of gross income. Claimants eligible for both WTC and CTC will have their maximum awards reduced in the order:

• WTC apart from childcare
• The childcare element of WTC
• CTC apart from the family element; and finally
• CTC family element.

Example

Couple with two children where both parents work at least 24 hours per week, paying £300 a week on childcare:

		£	£
Working Tax Credit	- Basic element	1,920
	- Second adult element	1,950
	- 30 hour element	790
	- Childcare element (300 x 70% x 52)	10,920	15,580
Child tax credit	- Child element (2,690 x 2)	5,380
	- Family element	545	5,925
Maximum Award			£21,505

The maximum award is payable until family income reaches £6,420.
For income over this threshold, there is a taper of 41p for each additional £1 of income, so that, for example, the WTC basic element will be lost when income reaches:

£6,420 plus (£1,920 divided by 100/41) = £11,103

The following table shows the effect of these principles in setting income levels where the various elements are lost:

	Reduction	Net award	Income band	Amassed income
WTC - basic	£1,920	£19,585	£4,683	£11,103 (see above)
WTC - second adult	£1,950	£17,635	£4,756	£15,859
WTC - 30 hour	£790	£16,845	£1,927	£17,786
WTC - child care	£10,920	£5,925	£26,634	£44,420
CTC - child	£5,380	£545	£13,122	£57,542
CTC - family	£545	Nil	£1,329	£58,871 (see above)