What is working tax credit?
Working tax credit is a benefit that is in place to support those who are working for a company or are self employed as a freelancer. The benefit works as a top up of money if you are considered to be on a low income. It works differently from other benefits because you are still allowed to work whilst claiming unlike JSA.
The amount varies on many conditions such as your age, your income and the amount of hours that you work. Not everyone is entitled to claim this benefit but if you are eligible, it is not one to miss as it can provide you up to £697 per month on top of your regular wages.
Working tax credit eligibility
Your eligibility for the benefit depends on the following.
- The amount of paid work that you do each week
- Your income
- Other circumstances
Their are also other circumstances that may have not been mentioned. Also due to the rules changing all of the time, this type of information can quickly become outdated. I would highly recommend following the link to find out if you are eligible, and for tips on how to claim. In order to be eligible, you must work a certain amount of hours each week in order for you to qualify, see below for more details.
– People aged 25-59 years old, must work at least 30 hours per week.
– People aged 60 or over and disabled or are single with 1 child or more you must work at least 16 hours.
– If you are a couple with 1 or more children you must work at least 24 hours between you, with one person working at least 16 hours.
To find out how much money you will receive and your entitlement, use the tax credits calculator.
You will need to provide details of your income, and your partner’s income. How many working hours, and any other benefits and the weekly amount that you spend on childcare. The reason they need to know how many hours you are currently working and your wage per hour is because if you are earning above there threshold this would make you not eligible for the benefit. Sometimes working less can actually get you more money.
When I claimed working tax credit
When my daughter was born, I was currently working in a retail store. I was working approximately 25 hours a week which meant that I was entitled to working tax credit. Usually to claim you need to be over the age of 25, However, I was still in my early 20s. As I was now a father, this made me eligible to claim. I had to phone HM Revenue to let them know about my circumstances. Later on, when I quit working in my current job.
I pursued my passion and started up my own company, and I was still eligible for this extra help. My own business got on very well, the months, then years went on and I continued to work for 25 hours a week. If anything changes you must keep HM revenue up to date of any changes. If my eligibility for working tax credit was different and I could not claim it. I most likely wouldn’t have been able to run a profitable business the way that I did. As it helped me look after my family, and helped my company crawl so that it could learn to walk!
Don’t miss out on working tax credit
If you are entitled you do not want to miss out on it. When I was working at a retail store, many people didn’t claim it. As a result, they missed out on thousands of pounds that was rightful theirs. They missed out not because they couldn’t be bothered but simply because they didn’t know about it. Education nowadays is one of the most important things. If you do not know something, you end up missing out on opportunities. We hope that you found this guide useful, if you are unemployed or are low on money. You may be eligible for Jobseekers allowance.
