Please can someone help me get my head around tax credits and SMP?
My husband and I have separated and I have one little boy (age 3) and a baby due in 8 weeks. I have been able to claim £19 a week tax credits based on my 2012/2013 income (£26,100). I know that when I am on maternity leave I can claim slightly more tax credits but I really dont know how I should work this out.
Because of my situation I know exactly when I am leaving for maternity leave (one week before my scheduled C-section) and I can only afford to take 26 weeks off, returning to work 4 days a week instead of 5 so I have put all of the weeks for 2013/2014 into a spreadsheet so I can see what my household income will be for all of the coming tax year (£18000 including KIT days). Should I just give this figure to HMRC to calculate my tax credits over the whole year? And if I do this then do I have to take another £2600 off (26 weeks SMP x £100).
Or do I need to call them at every stage of the year where something changes (by doing this theyve already decided that my income for 2013/14 will be higher and my tax credits for the new tax year have gone down to £11)?
I have tried speaking to HMRC but as its the new tax year all they say is that the renewal forms are in the post - but don't actually tell me how i should work it out, by the time i've returned my form everything will change again!
My husband and I have separated and I have one little boy (age 3) and a baby due in 8 weeks. I have been able to claim £19 a week tax credits based on my 2012/2013 income (£26,100). I know that when I am on maternity leave I can claim slightly more tax credits but I really dont know how I should work this out.
Because of my situation I know exactly when I am leaving for maternity leave (one week before my scheduled C-section) and I can only afford to take 26 weeks off, returning to work 4 days a week instead of 5 so I have put all of the weeks for 2013/2014 into a spreadsheet so I can see what my household income will be for all of the coming tax year (£18000 including KIT days). Should I just give this figure to HMRC to calculate my tax credits over the whole year? And if I do this then do I have to take another £2600 off (26 weeks SMP x £100).
Or do I need to call them at every stage of the year where something changes (by doing this theyve already decided that my income for 2013/14 will be higher and my tax credits for the new tax year have gone down to £11)?
I have tried speaking to HMRC but as its the new tax year all they say is that the renewal forms are in the post - but don't actually tell me how i should work it out, by the time i've returned my form everything will change again!