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wo
new state benefits have recently been introduced – Working Families’ Tax
Credit (WFTC) and Disabled Person’s Tax Credit (DPTC).
These replaced Family Credit (FC) and Disability Working Allowance (DWA)
respectively. WFTC
has been introduced to make work pay for working families. It will be more generous than FC, and includes money towards
childcare costs. DPTC has been
introduced to encourage people with disabilities to return to, or take up, work.
Again it will be more generous than its predecessor. An
important change which the new tax credits bring is the introduction of
childcare tax credit, which applies to both WFTC and DPTC.
The childcare tax credit is worth up to an extra £70 per week for
families with one child and £105 per week for families with two or more
children who pay eligible childcare costs.
The credits are designed to be an incentive for people with children to
move into work, or return to work, by making childcare more affordable.
It is further designed to help support parents already in work.
The changes affect not only parents, but also providers of eligible care
- eg. nurseries, registered childminders, playgroups, etc. To
qualify for WFTC, you must : ·
be
working for 16 hours or more a week (or your partner if you have one) ·
have
one or more dependent children under 16 living with you (or under 19 if in
full-time education) ·
have
savings of less than £8000 ·
live
in the UK To
qualify for DPTC, you must : ·
be
working for at least 16 hours per week ·
be in
receipt of one of a range of incapacity or disability benefits ·
have
savings of less than £16000 ·
live
in the UK The
beneficiaries of WFTC are likely to be people on low or medium incomes, who are
working at least 16 hours a week, and bringing up one or more children.
They may be married, single, living with a partner, or lone parents.
The tax credit is available to the self-employed as well as waged
employees. The beneficiaries of
DPTC are again likely to be those on low or medium incomes, working at least 16
hours a week, and have an illness or disability which puts them at a
disadvantage to getting a job. Their
personal status may be as for WFTC, and again the tax credit is available to
both the self-employed and employees. I
have booklets about both new credits, which I will send to members if required
(please say which booklet you need).
My address is in the journal directory.
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