THOUSANDS of working families have only five days left to renew their claims for cash support or face losing thousands of pounds.
Customers who leave their renewal application for tax credits until the last minute are running out of time.
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Households that think they’re still eligible for tax credits have until Sunday July 31 to renew their claims – so it’s important to send in your response NOW.
Each year a claim for tax credits must be renewed, otherwise the benefit could be stopped, and you could even have to pay money back.
HMRC previously said that more than 226,600 tax credit customers still need to renew their claims before the end of the month.
Universal Credit has replaced both these for new claimants, but many have not yet made the switch over to the newer benefit.
Everyone will be transitioned over to receiving Universal Credit eventually and by 2024, the government has said.
Until then many people will have to renew their claim – here’s what you need to know.
How do I renew my entitlement for tax credits?
You should have been sent a renewal pack, which contains all the information you need in order to renew your tax credits.
This will include information on how your circumstances have changed, and the income of you and your partner for the previous tax year, which ran from April 6 2021 to April 5 2022.
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You can renew your tax credits online, by post or over the phone.
To do it online you need to log in to your tax credits account and follow the instruction.
You can renew over the phone by calling HMRC on 0345 300 3900.
By post, you need to sill in the forms in your renewal pack, and send it to: Tax Credit Office, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1LR.
What if I don’t put in a renewal claim?
You’ll lose your entitlement to the benefit and you may have to pay back any tax credits you’ve received since April 6 this year.
HMRC will then send you a letter, which will say TC607 on it to confirm this.
However, you will have 30 days to contact the HMRC and tell them why you missed the deadline.
You could be given until January 31 2023 to confirm your details but this isn’t guaranteed and is decided on by a case-by-case basis.
If you don’t respond within 30 days of receiving the letter you’ll have to pay back all tax credits received since April 6 this year.
How much could I get with tax credits?
The exact amount you can get depends on your circumstances, so take the below figures with a pinch of salt.
Working tax credits per year:
- Basic element £2,070
- Couple and lone parent element £2,125
- 30 hour element £860
- Disabled worker element £3,345
- Severe disability element £1,445
- Childcare element £175 or £300, depending on the number of children
Child tax credits per year:
- Family element £545
- Child element £2,935
- Disability element: disabled child rate £3,545
- Disability element: severally disabled child rate £1,430
