Benefits reducing after a year

[mum2A&L]

Well ive been on the entitled to website and it recons that if i don't go back to work we will be £200 better off a month, not including the fact i won't be paying my mum £140 a month to look after alice. i want to phone up etc and check this as it seems too good to be true!!

iIve got it in my head that it drops down after a year...

Is this right? if it does, is it a drastic drop?

 

[Julie84]

Child tax credits halve after baby turns 1 I believe.

 

[kalia]

Child tax credits drop by £545 a year once your child turns 1.

 

[kalia]

Just realised that at this very moment you don't have a child under one which means that in your case Child Tax Credits would go up by £545 for a year once baby is born

 

[Julie84]

Aren't child tax credits means tested? Not everyone will be eligible and those that are won't necessarily get the same amount.

 

[nori]

I heard that child tax credit drops after a year too.. dont understand why though.. what really changes in a year?!

 

[mum2A&L]

I have a feeling its to encourage mums to go back to work. But what if you have more than one child - does that effect it. I should really call, but last time i called i sat on hold for so long it was stupid.

 

[kalia]

If you have 2 children, the amount of tax credits you get is the same if your income is between about £25000 and £50000. So if your household income is £25000 you get the same as a household that earns £50000. If you have a child under one, as I said in my post above, you get an additional £545. They don't reduce your payments after a year to encourage you to go back to work, they increase them for the first year when there may be more initial expenses. You still get the bonus even if it is your second child. If you don't want to call them there is a lot of information online. Hopefully this will answer all your questions but if not just google child tax credit.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/wtc1.pdf

 

[mum2A&L]

cheers, thanks for the link