Lost lone parents allowance, can I get it back?

HI,

I have a 10yo daughter, she lives at home with me 4+ nights per week, however her mum gets the Child benefit payment. It's this way because I earn more
and she basically uses that for school books etc and any odd stuff that comes up, I've always been happy to let her have it as she picks her up from school and so on.

Her mum is now married with kids and has been for over 5 years.

I am single and living only with my daughter in a modest house in town which we rent. I have a decent paying job, 75k+ but due to rent,
driving costs etc I don't have a lot of money left over to kick about. I get tax relief in the form of lone parents.

My relief has been removed in the current budget as now only one parent is allowed have the primary carers relief. The mother is willing to sign it over to me but
according to the revenue she can't because she doesn't get it due to her being married. There is nothing to sign over.
The reason the relief was defaulted to her in the first place is because she is in receipt of the Child Benefit.

My question is if I have any recourse here.
Can I write them letter tell them that although the mother gets the allowance I am a primary carer?
The mother is also willing to transfer the CB payment over to me, then I will pay for all clothes and books/school etc, would this help? Or will revenue look at this as a scam?

I really feel hard done by here as she does spend a lot more nights in my house and weekends with me than her mum but I'm now down about 300 cash p.m. as a result of this change.

Any help would be great.

If you are the primary carer, then you should be getting the Child Benefit payment. That may sort out the issue with Revenue and the single parent tax credit (you should confirm that with Revenue). In order to switch the Child Benefit to you, you will probably need written confirmation that you are the primary carer (e.g. legal documentation).

You can make an arrangement to pay the mother of the child maintenance for the time the child is with her (if you haven't already done so).

You are earning €75k+ per year???? And looking for tax allowance for your child. A married couple do not, as far as I know, receive any tax allowance for their children so why should a lone parent on a large salary receive it.

annie51 said:

you are earning €75k+ per year???? And looking for tax allowance for your child. A married couple do not, as far as i know, receive any tax allowance for their children so why should a lone parent on a large salary receive it.

Click to expand...

+1. I'm surprised Revenue haven't already seen this as a scam.

The qualifications for Single person Child Carer Credit don't seem to mention income limits. If the OP is the primary carer (has the child for the majority of the time) he is entitled to this tax credit.
Onemanortwo, you should complete Form SPCC1 as mentioned in the Revenue guidance here http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/credits/single-person-child-carer-credit.html
I don't know why Alexa should think this is a scam.

Annie51 said:

You are earning €75k+ per year???? And looking for tax allowance for your child. A married couple do not, as far as I know, receive any tax allowance for their children so why should a lone parent on a large salary receive it.

Click to expand...

In fairness Annie51 - a married couple will receive a married tax credit and a home carer's tax credit - if one parent stays home to mind the children.

One parent tax credit has always been in existence for a long time - just now restricted to primary carer. Amount of salary is irrelevant.

Annie51 said:

You are earning €75k+ per year???? And looking for tax allowance for your child. A married couple do not, as far as I know, receive any tax allowance for their children so why should a lone parent on a large salary receive it.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure where the hate comes from. I live in a modest 2 bed. I spend most of my earnings on rent, car, and stuff for my daughter.
I'm not an extravagant spender and have have one holiday in the last two years but still this money is important to me.
I do need savings because if I lose my job there is no fallback so yeah, I need this money.


I spoke to revenue and they said if I get the CB transferred to my name I can fill out the SPCC1 form and claim the allowance back.

Thanks for your help guys, was pretty scary there and may not be over. I'll keep the thread posted in case there are any other people in my situation.

onemanortwo said:

I'm not sure where the hate comes from. I live in a modest 2 bed. I spend most of my earnings on rent, car, and stuff for my daughter.
I'm not an extravagant spender and have have one holiday in the last two years but still this money is important to me.
I do need savings because if I lose my job there is no fallback so yeah, I need this money.


I spoke to revenue and they said if I get the CB transferred to my name I can fill out the SPCC1 form and claim the allowance back.

Thanks for your help guys, was pretty scary there and may not be over. I'll keep the thread posted in case there are any other people in my situation.

Click to expand...

Hi - in similar situation - did you manage to get the credit reinstated ?

JimmyMur said:

Hi - in similar situation - did you manage to get the credit reinstated ?

Click to expand...

Yes I did, lot of messing about and hard work but got it sorted in the end.
It's less that it was in 2013 but it's still about 200 p.m. Really need it now as have to move home again and rents have gone up so much.

onemanortwo said:

Yes I did, lot of messing about and hard work but got it sorted in the end.
It's less that it was in 2013 but it's still about 200 p.m. Really need it now as have to move home again and rents have gone up so much.

Click to expand...

Good stuff. It would make a huge difference to me right now. I'm determined to get it reinstated now I know it can be done. How did you get it sorted ? Would be grateful for any tips or advice.