student - childcare/council tax HELP

[yecats2885]

hi im a 25 year old single mum to a 1 year old boy.
i currently work 16 hours per week but pay no childcare costs as his dad has him 2 days a week when i work. in september im starting a college course which is classed as full time as its 12-15 hours per week. the course is called access to social work which is an a level equivalent course which will allow me to go to uni next year. im going to have to put my son into childcare whilst im at college. can i claim for childcare costs for this through my working tax credit, even though the child care is not for when im at work, its for my studies?
also will i get a full reduction in council tax for being a full time student even though i work 16 hours? i currently get 25% off because i live alonbe and £1 a week council tax benefit due to low income/single parent etc etc

my income is as follows -

wage from work p/w £110
housing benefir p/w £40
council tax benefit p/w £1 (lol)
child tax credit p/w £67
working tax credit p/w £60
child benefit p/w £20
maintenance from ex p/w £20

[crisgal]

your post has depressed me somewhat :(

[ummmm]

Why crisgal?

[factor-fiction]

If the course is defintely classed as 'full time' then I think the answer is yes-you can be counted as a full time student for council tax purposes. However 12-15 hours a week doesn't sound like full time study to me.

Overall though I think there will be others who are less well off than you. I reckon that with tax and taking benefits into account you'll be better off than someone earning nearer £20000 a year.

I think it's a good step you are taking and I hope it works out

[yecats2885]

Why has it depressed you???

also just to clarify im not a typical single mum in the fact i have not had a baby for benefits, i was an assistant accountant living with my fiance who i had planned to marry in 2 months, but i found out he was sleeping around when i was 7 months pregnant and he left us.
i later found out he had been doing it for the last 5 years....

and yes i know i am pretty well off, in regards to the fact i do get a lot of help because im on my own, but i work 30 miles away from home and have a lot of petrol to pay for, also my rent is £425 a month and have £200 of sofa tv and other credit payments to pay per month which my ex took out in my name as he has a poor history...he wouldnt take the debt or the items so im stuck paying for them.

me wanting to go to college and uni whilst (and im sorry if this offends anyone) i get it for free is to make a better life for myself and my son, i dont want to cliam benefits, but i am "entitled" to them as per our current government and im obviously going to claim them...im not scraping by and letting my son starve and be homeless for the sake of pride.... working full time will make me worse off as i would have to pay more of my rent and my tax credits would go down, but fuel and childcare will go up.... i know this is enevitable but it would actually make me about £200 a month worse off....

so any answers would be greatly apopreciated

[ummmm]

I don't blame you for re-training while you can. Good luck...

I don't think you'll be able to claim for child care costs through tax credits though. Does the college have a creche?

[ummmm]

I'll send a link to this Q to someone who works for hmrc, just in case you don't get the answers tonight.

[yecats2885]

the college does have a creche but im waiting to hear if i have a place, they can offer me reduced fees of £1 per hour which is good, but im just looking incase i cant get him in thee, as all the local nurseries childminders want £5-6 per hour which is a LOT!!

thanks for ur help :)

[crisgal]

alright - calm down calm down!
I'm not saying you're not entitled to them!
It just depresses me that people such as yourselves get all that benefit and that you would be worse off, working full time.
it's ridiculous, working full time should make a person much better off and it drives me mad that it doesn't.
It's no attack on you personally - honest. it's the system. you get three times the amount of income i do, and i have three children, so i do understand. when you compare what you get from the tax payer to what your ex pays,
it's no wonder the counrty's on it's knees.
i don't know what the answer is, but the current systemt p1sses me off big stylie!

(you've caught me on a bad day i'm afraid)

[yecats2885]

nah its fine... i know its crap that i will be worse off.. i should be rewarded to working more as should everyone..... i just hate being compared to these jeromy kylers who dont work a day in their life, get knocked up at 15 and get everything handed to them on a plate for the rest of their lives i have worked full time for 10 years and only had 3 months off work on maternity leave im not one to sit on my a*se all day lol and when my son goes to school (which will be when i leave uni) ill be working full time until im about 70 lol so ill be more than paying back for these 4 years im working part time...

i blame men - its their infedelity which causes 99% of break ups therefore resulting in million being paid out to single mums

[roxie_09]

If you're a full time student you get tax exemption. I know social work at degree level in Wales has a bursary which one can apply to receive more for childcare etc but not sure if this is the same for Wales. Fingers crossed the college can offer you a place in the creche. Also when you do Start college make sure you inform the tax office that you are a student as they will then tax you less on your income x

[factor-fiction]

Hi- i disagree with the point about tax, roxie. The amount of tax you pay depends on allowances and earnings-the system doesn't give any special staus to students.
I doubt yecats2885 earns enough to pay tax anyway

[yecats2885]

no i dont pay tax or ni cos i dont earn enough , i didnt mean income tyway i meant working tax credits

[yecats2885]

*income tax