A Working Mum
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Tax Credits
If you're responsible for at least one child or young person, you may qualify for childtax credit. If you work, but are on a low income, you may qualify for working taxcredit. You may be eligible for both types of tax credits, and they're not taxable.
Most families with children will qualify for tax credits, but you don't need to have children to claim. You may also qualify if you are working and on a low income.
Working tax credit is based on the hours you work and get paid for, or expect to be paid for. You can claim whether you're an employee or a self-employed person, however unpaid work doesn't count for working tax credit.
Child tax credit is paid to you if you are responsible for at least one child or young person who normally lives with you. You don't have to be working to claim child taxcredit.
The amount of tax credits you're entitled to depends on:
- how many children you have living with you
- if you live with someone as a couple
- whether you work - and how many hours you work
- if you pay for childcare
- if you or any child living with you has a disability
- if you're aged 50 or over and are coming off benefits
Your payments also depend on your income. The lower your income, the more tax credit you can get.
If your annual income is not above one of the following amounts, you can probably gettax credits:
- if you have children it is £41,300
- if you're single without children it is £12,900
- if you’re in a couple without children it is £17,700
These are the limits for getting tax credits in the current tax year - ending on 5 April 2012.
You can find a tax credit calculator here
You'll need to make a joint claim for tax credits if you are any of the following:
- married
- in a civil partnership
- living together as if you were married or in a civil partnership
You can only make a single claim if you don't fall into one of these groups.
You're not likely to get anything if your income is above these amounts. But it's important to know that:
- these income limits don't apply to everyone - for example if you have a large family, pay a lot in childcare, or have a disability, the income limit could be higher
- you really need to make a claim to get a definite answer to how much you may entitled to
