Are you eligible for tax credits?
Urgent. Check if you’re eligible for tax credits, £1 Starbucks, ‘free’ Thorpe Park tickets, and 30% off The Body Shop plus a free gift. These are our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis’ Quick Deals.
Remember, deals can change quickly, even while I’m on the programme. So always double-check the terms and conditions before spending. Plus, while I hope these deals will save you cash, don’t spend if you can’t afford it, don’t need it, or won’t use it.
Urgent. Check now if you’re eligible for tax credits
If you’re a parent(s) earning up to £47,000 or as a household earn up to £73,000 and pay for childcare, or if you’re single earning under £13,000 (£18,000 as a couple)and don’t have children, you need to check if you’re eligible to get working or child tax credits before the rules change and you lose out – it could be worth £1,000s. There are thought to be more than a million people in this scenario.
A new universal credit system is being gradually rolled out across Great Britain– it's already in place for all single people – that will replace the six existing social security payments (income support, jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance, housing benefit, child tax credit and working tax credit).
For some the new system wins, for others the current one; but if you’re already claiming tax credits, and the universal credit payment will be lower, you’ll still get the higher amount until your circumstances change. And if you’re claiming tax credits and universal credit turns out to be higher, you’ll be able to move to the new higher payment – so either way you’ll be better off.
The only people who will lose out are those who’d get more on tax credits, but don’t start their claim until universal credit has been introduced, in which case they’ll get the new lower amount. So EVERYONE who thinks they’re eligible should check now – you can use this calculator from Entitledto, a company that provides online benefits calculators, to work out whether or not you would gain under universal credit based on your circumstances.
£1 Starbucks: To celebrate ‘Earth Day’, tomorrow (Friday 22 April) Starbucks is giving a free drink to anyone who buys one of its coffee tumblers (travel mugs without a handle), in store (excluding franchise stores in airports or hotels), including its £1 reusable cup. You can get any hot or cold drink (normally up to £4) but the size you get will depend on the size of the tumbler you buy. Starbucks says its stores will be well stocked with the £1 cups, but demand’s likely to be high so they could run out early. Then, until Thursday 30 June, if you take the £1 reusable cup (not any other one) to Starbucks you’ll get 50p off any hot or cold drink.
‘Free’ Thorpe Park tickets: From this Saturday (23 April) until Tuesday 10 May, collect 10 different codes printed on the back page of The Sun (50p weekdays, 70p Saturdays), and The Sun on Sunday (£1), to get two ‘free’ tickets to Thorpe Park. You’ll need to enter the codes online at Sun Perks by Tuesday 24 May, though the first one must be entered by Friday 6 May. When you enter the first code you’ll automatically get five bonus codes (so you start with six in total), and once you reach 15 you can book your tickets – do this straightaway if you can as tickets are given on a first-come, first-served basis.
Bookings online will cost £1.50 – so in total it’ll cost £6.50 minimum, including the cost of the newspapers, but as adult tickets at Thorpe Park are £51.50 on the gate, this could save you up to £96.50. There are 120,000 pairs of tickets to give away, spread across dates from May-Oct 2016.
30% off Body Shop & freebie: Go online to The Body Shop and enter the code 14664 to get 30% off most full-priced items (excluding sale items), until 9am next Tuesday (26 April). Plus if your total is over £10 (after the discount) you’ll also get a free200ml passion fruit body-butter (usually £14). Delivery is £2.49. You can also get the discount in store until Monday, if you show the code on your phone or print it, but you won’t be able to get the free body butter. Some things found in the sale are a shea beauty bag for £8.40, reduced from £12, and coconut body butter for £4.20, reduced from £6.