* A basic tax credit of 59pw (one per family) * A 30 hours credit of 11.45pw (where one earner works at least 30 hours per week) * A credit of 26pw for each child aged under 16 * A childcare credit of up to 70 per cent of eligible childcare costs to a maximum of 135pw for one child and 200 for two or more children.
To qualify for WFTC, families have to:
* Have one or more children
* Work at least 16 hours a week. Both parents don't have to be working
* Reside in the UK and be entitled to work here
* Have savings of 8,000 or less.
The childcare credit, for families meeting the WFTC criteria, is available where:
* Lone parents/couples work 16 hours or more a week
* The child/children cared for is/are aged from birth to the September after the child's 15th birthday
Income ceilings depend on family circumstances, but a lone parent with a child aged under 11 earning up to 27,000 per year and a couple with two children earning jointly up to 34,000, would qualify. The childcare must be registered. The amount a claimant gets depends on their earnings and the number of children.
Meanwhile the Government has replaced the Married Couple's Allowance with the Children's Tax Credit, at 10 a week or 520 a year. From this April, the credit in the first year of a child's life is worth 1,040 or 20 a week. The income ceilings are higher than for WFTC.
