Can anyone see any reason why someone who is fostering cannot also claim both incapacity benefit and working tax credit? It seems counter-intuitive but on a quick scout I can't see why not.

Tony

Nor me.

Starting point is that fostering is self employed work and the fostering payments are self employed income. One then looks for provisions which deem matters to be otherwise.

For IS and other means tested benefits there are specific provisions both disregarding fostering income AND treating a foster carer as not being in remunerative work.

For IB it's slightly less direct but Sch.1 para.6, Computation of Earnings Regs disregards all fostering income as earnings and Reg.17, IFW Regs, disregards work for which the earnings are less than £20pw, indefinitely. Earnings as a foster carer being nil the permitted work lower limit applies without restricton. Same applies, mutatis mutandis, to Carers Allowance. Certainly I have known fostercarers claiming IB and CA without a problem.

I can't then see any reason why a WTC award should affect matters at all - although of course a post 1995 IB award is taxable and could affect the WTC.

Problems come when a fosterchld wants to stay on and the foster parents want to switch to Adult Placement arrangements - but that's another story.

Richard Atkinson

Thanks a lot Richard

What you say is what I thought but I needed to be sure. Always worried about missing something, obvious or not!

I haven't been asked before about fostering when receiving IB although I imagine it's not that unusual, as you suggest

Tony