Working tax credits & maternity leave?

[Em91]

Hi ladies hope you're all well

Just wandered what happens with working tax credits when I go on maternity leave? I get £102 a week atm, but when I go on maternity leave will that stop/go down? sorry am a bit clueless about that sort of thing

 

[Bee7]

Hi Em. I'm currently trying to find out how much child/working tax credits we'll be entitled to after baby is born and its a nightmare! My OH and i have a combined income of about 28k and apparently that means we're not entitled to working tax credits but we can get about £36 a week in child tax credit once i go onto stat maternity pay and then part time hours (i currently work full time but will only be able to go back to work part time after baby arrives). This is only a very rough estimate though.

I have been trying to get hold of the tax office all week and finally spoke to someone on the phone today who confused me even more than i was already! I also tried the online tax credit calculator but couldn't make much sense of that either. My next step will be to try and arrange an appointment at citizens advice or the tax office so i can sit down and have everything fully explained to me. I want to be able to plan ahead financially and even though we can't claim until after baby is born, i'd still like a rough estimate of what we might be entitled to in the long run.

You didn't mention if you're single, married, living with a partner etc? If you're married or living with an OH then both of your incomes will be taken into account when calculating your entitlements. I hope you manage to get some answers, i know how bloody confusing it is! xx

 

[lyndsey_28]

if ur single u will be entitled to both working tax and child tax credit but not until the baby is born....not sure if ur as part of a couple as the combine ur income so if he earns quite a lot then maybe u wont be entiltel to that much x

 

[babyem]

If you're a couple they will combine your income

 

[Em91]

Thanks for replies, yeah we're a couple and get 100 a week currently just wandered of it stops when on maternity leave

 

[starstruck2011]

I am single and will only qualify for child tax element of working tax credits. No working tax credits at all on SMP.... You are still classed as employed so they just basically cover childcare if needed. With a bit on top