Can u help me? My client was living alone with son in April-December 03 and getting WTC/CTC. In Dec.03 her new partner moved in so all Tax Credit stopped accept family element of CTC due to income increase. However after annual review carried out she has been left with £3'500 overpayment! After reading through notice letters it appears that it is due to her new partners full annual earnings for 03-04 being taken into consideration. How can this be right if he only lived with her from 28th December 03,this leaves only 3 months where he lived as part of the family.
Do the Inland Revenue take his income into account from dec 03-april 04, or do they take the full years (april03-04)?

Hi

She should have had two renewal notices, one for her single claim, and one for her joint claim, she would need to enter her income on both, and just his on the joint claim. The IR wont take his income into account on the single claim

Have been on a training course today and queried this particular scenario - the trainer said that a new partner would bring the single parent's TC claim to an end, and a new claim as a couple would start - based on both of their incomes for the whole tax year. In your client's case then the new partner's annual income from April would be included in the TC calculation (not just from Dec 03 when he moved in). Your client's claim from April to December should not have been affected by the new partner's April to December income because he wasn't part of that claim.

This doesn't explain an overpayment of this size though does it? Presumably the April to Dec 03 claim as a single parent was accurate being based on her income alone?

There should have been two separate claims at the annual review - could his income have been applied to both awards by mistake?