Foster carers are facilitated different types of benefits for their unique services to the society. Various benefits and tax credits are allowed to the foster carers. Calculating the entitlement to benefits may exclude the allowances and fees etc that are received by these noble guys from fostering activities.
- Youngster Benefits – Foster carer’s own offspring or the children living with them are facilitated child benefits.
- Disability Living Allowance – Children and adults under 65 years of age that require mobility and care because of any disease or disability are paid tax credits or other such benefits related to their income.
- Carer’s Allowance – This is permitted for the person or persons that take care of anybody who is allowed the middle or higher rate of the component of disability living allowance or either rate of PIP for daily living or attendance allowance. It may be your own child or an adult or a fostered child as long as they are cared for thirty hours during a week. The income from fostering is not taken into account for calculation of Carers Allowance. But it may be noted that it is taxable so it is to be highlighted in the tax returns.
- Means-tested benefits: Fostered children are not taken into account as constituents of your family while calculating any means-tested benefits. No consideration is given to the allowances and fees that are received through fostering for counting of total income.
Mortgage lenders are lenient towards the fostering jobs related persons. They are permitted exclusive benefits in the form of where can foster carers get a mortgage.
Following means-tested benefits are also not taken into account:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-based Employment and Support Allowance
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax support
- Income Support – It is a non-taxable benefit meant for the people that work less than sixteen hours a week. They are not required to sign on as unemployed like the foster carers. Fostering work is not counted and the related income is also not considered for taxation.
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance – This is the allowance facilitated for the period when the foster carer does not have a child in placement. The retainer paid from the fostering service when the carer does not have a child in placement may be countered towards earnings. It reduces the quantum of his or her entitlement to Job Seeker’s Allowance.
- Income-based Employment and Support Allowance – It is paid to the people that have savings less than £16,000. The entitlement may be reduced if the foster carer has other employment and / or either lives with a partner that works more than twenty four hours a week.
- Housing Benefit – It is meant for the people that pay rent. The income and savings should not exceed £16,000 for qualifying for this benefit. A cap in the name of ‘the bedroom tax’ or ‘spare room subsidy’ has since been put on it.
- Council Tax Support – Local authority may be approached for this purpose. The tax may be reduced depending on various factors including the overall income and the type of services for children that are cared for.
People engaged with fostering work may claim the tax benefits where can foster carers get a mortgage while they work on such projects.