What hours of work are needed

If you don’t have children you need to work the following hours to get Working Tax Credit:

• if you’re aged 25-59, you need to do paid work of at least 30 hours a week;

• if you have a disability and are aged 16 or over, you need to do paid work of at least 16 hours a week;

• if you’re aged 60 or over, you need to do paid work of at least 16 hours a week.

If you have children you need to be aged at least 16 and work the following hours to get Working Tax Credit:

• if you’re single, you need to do paid work of at least 16 hours a week.

• if you’re in a couple, your joint paid working hours need to be at least 24 a week, with one of you working at least 16 hours a week.

So if you are a couple and only one of you is working, that person will need to work at least 24 hours a week. If your joint working hours are less than 24 a week, you can still get Working Tax Credit if one of the following applies:

• one of you is aged 60 or over and working at least 16 hours a week;

• one of you is disabled and working at least 16 hours a week;

• one of you works at least 16 hours a week, and the other is entitled to Carer’s Allowance – even if they don’t get any payments because they receive other benefits instead;

• one of you works at least 16 hours a week, and the other is “incapacitated”, an in-patient in hospital, or in prison (serving a custodial sentence, or remanded in custody awaiting trial or sentence).