Ten days to renew your tax credits!

The countdown to renew your tax credits is on. You should have received your renewal pack by now –  these were sent out between 2 May and 15 June.

You have until Monday 31 July to make sure you follow the instructions in the pack. If you don’t do this, you risk missing out on £1,000s and may even face having to repay money.

What to do if you haven’t received your renewal pack

Get in touch with HMRC as soon as possible and they’ll get you one sent out. The tax credit helpline number is 0345 300 3900. If you can’t hear or speak on the phone, you can use Relay UK. Just dial 18001 and then 0345 300 3900. Opening hours are 8am – 6pm, Monday to Friday.

What are tax credits?

There are two kind of tax credits – working tax credit and child tax credit.

You can claim tax credits if:

• you’re on a low income
• you’re disabled; or
• you have dependent children.

How much you’ll get get depends on your situation, but you’re looking at up to £2,280 a year for the basic element of working tax credit or as much as £3,235 a year if you claim the child element of child tax credit.

Wondering whether you should be claiming tax credits?

Tax credits are being phased out so, if you haven’t made a claim before, you’ll have to apply for universal credit instead. Everyone is due to be switched onto the newer benefit by 2024.

If you think you might be missing out on benefits, we can check you’re claiming everything you’re entitled to. So get in touch or try our benefits calculator.

How to renew your tax credits

If you’re a current claimant and want to carry on receiving tax credits, your renewal pack should contain all the information you need.

You’ll receive one of two different packs. Whether you need to respond to continue receiving tax credits depends on the pack you receive.

If your pack has a red line across the first page that says ‘reply now’

You need to:

• confirm that your circumstances are correct
• you can do this on the gov.uk website, on the HMRC app or by calling 0345 300 3900

If your pack has a black line across the first page that says ‘check now’

You need to:

• check that your details are correct
• if they are, you don’t need to do anything else and your tax credits will be renewed automatically