Check if a change affects your tax credits
You must tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about any change in your money, work or home life if you’re getting tax credits. HMRC calls this a ‘change of circumstances’.
You have to tell them even if it seems like a small change, or it’s only for a short time. For example, let them know if your partner or child moves out - even if they’re planning to move back in with you.
Most changes have to be reported within 1 month. It’s best to report all changes as soon as possible to make sure you’re getting the right amount of tax credits. Don’t wait until it’s time to renew your tax credits claim each year.
The change might increase your payment and you might miss out on extra money if you tell HMRC late.
You should still tell HMRC if you think a change might reduce your tax credits - you won't save money by reporting it later. If you tell HMRC late you could get paid too much and have to pay your tax credits back to HMRC. This is called an overpayment - check how HMRC deals with overpayments.
If you're getting help with childcare costs
You can get childcare vouchers alongside tax credits, but you won’t be able to get the childcare element of working tax credits.
If you claim tax-free childcare your tax credits will stop.
Check whether you’ll be better off with tax-free childcare, childcare vouchers or tax credits on GOV.UK.
Changes you have to report
You have to report all of these changes to HMRC, even if another government department already knows about them. For example if you tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about a change that affects your other benefits, you still need to tell HMRC about it as well.
When you tell HMRC about most types of changes, your tax credits claim and payments will stop.
You’ll only be able to get:
-
Working Tax Credits if you already get Child Tax Credits
-
Child Tax Credits if you already get Working Tax Credits
If you made a claim for tax credits in the last tax year, you might be able to make a new claim. You should talk to an adviser to find out if you can.
If you can’t claim tax credits, you should check if you can get Universal Credit instead.
Changes about your partner
You must tell HMRC within 1 month if:
- you stop living with your partner
- you start living with a new partner
- you get divorced, married or form a civil partnership
- your partner dies
- your partner leaves the UK for 8 weeks or more
- your partner loses their 'right to reside' and you're claiming child tax credits - you can get help from your nearest Citizens Advice if this happens
HMRC works out your tax credits differently depending on if you’re single or in a couple. If you’re in a couple, HMRC counts what you both earn - this is called a ‘joint claim’. If you’re single or your partner doesn't have the right to reside, they’ll only count what you earn - called a ‘single claim’.
If your partner has a disability
You must also tell HMRC if your partner starts or stops getting a benefit because of a disability. There’s no deadline for reporting this change, but it’s important to tell HMRC as soon as possible to make sure you’re getting the right money. You won’t have to make a new claim.
Changes to do with your children
You must tell HMRC within 1 month if a child you get tax credits for:
- moves out of your home
- becomes 16 years old
- is 16 or over and finishes an approved education or training course
- dies
Other changes to do with your children
You must also tell HMRC if:
- you have a baby or another child comes to live with you
- your child starts or stops getting a benefit because of a disability
There’s no deadline to report these changes, but you still have to let HMRC know. It’s important to tell them as soon as possible to make sure you’re getting the right money.
Changes to do with childcare
You must tell HMRC within 1 month if:
- you’re no longer paying for childcare
- the amount you pay for childcare goes down by £10 or more a week
- you get help from someone else to pay for childcare
- your childcare provider isn’t approved any more - you can check if your childcare is approved is approved on the Scottish Care Inspectorate register
Other changes to do with childcare
You must also tell HMRC if:
- you start paying for approved childcare
- you change childcare provider
- you stop getting help with childcare costs
There’s no deadline to report these changes, but you still have to let HMRC know. It’s important to tell them as soon as possible to make sure you’re getting the right money.
Changes to your work and money
You must tell HMRC within 1 month if:
- your normal working hours fall below 30 hours a week (30 hours in total if you’re a couple with children)
- your normal working hours fall below the minimum for working tax credits - you can check what the minimum working hours are for your circumstances
If your hours change regularly
If the number of hours you work from week to week are predictable, HMRC call this a 'normal working pattern', even if your hours are different each week. You can give HMRC your average weekly hours over whatever period your normal working pattern is. For example, if it's common for you to work 20 hours and 40 hours on alternate weeks, you could put your normal working hours as 30 hours per week.
If your working hours are unreliable and irregular, you might not be able to say what hours are normal for you. If this is your situation, contact HMRC to get advice on how to describe your weekly hours. Or you can contact your nearest Citizens Advice.
Clients who have no obvious working pattern
A decision by the Social Security Deputy Commissioner in 2006 said claimants and HMRC should take a 'common sense' approach to working out their normal working hours. You can check the decision on Rightsnet - type 'CTC 2103 (2006)' into Google to find it.
Try to get as much information as possible about your client's working hours in the past 12 months. Make a list of the number of hours they've done each week. This will help you see what number of hours is most common for your client to work throughout the week. You can use this number of hours as their normal working week.
The Deputy Commissioner said the claimant doesn't have to work the correct number of hours every week - it would be OK for them to work below the eligibility limit at times, as long as this wasn't normal.
He also said it wouldn't always be appropriate to calculate a normal working week by averaging out their hours over a set period.
Example
Jan is a 30 year old without children. In the last 2 months she worked 6 x 30-hour weeks and 2 x 15-hour weeks. Her average hours over those 8 weeks are therefore 26.5 hours. This is under the 30 hours so if she used this figure, she wouldn't be entitled to tax credits. However, you could argue that Jan's normal working week is actually 30 hours, because that's what she works most of the time.
Other changes to your work or money
You must also tell HMRC if:
- your income for the year goes up by £2,500 or more
- you start claiming other benefits or your benefits change
- your working hours increase to 30 hours a week (30 hours in total if you’re a couple with children)
- your bank details change
There’s no deadline to report these changes, but you still have to let HMRC know. It’s important to tell them as soon as possible to make sure you’re getting the right money.
You should also tell HMRC if your income goes down - it might mean you can get more in tax credits.
Changes to where you live or your immigration status
You must tell HMRC after you move house. There’s no deadline to report this change, but it’s a good idea to tell them as soon as possible.
You must tell HMRC within 1 month if you or your partner:
- leave the UK for 8 weeks or more - you can tell them before you leave or within 1 month of when you leave the UK
- lose the ‘right to reside’, don't have settled status and are claiming Child Tax Credits - you can get help from your nearest Citizens Advice if this happens
If you’re from the EU, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland or Liechtenstein
If HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) say you’ve lost your right to reside, you won't be able to get Child Tax Credits. You don’t need a right to reside for Working Tax Credits so you might be able to get this.
You might have lost your right to reside because you:
- split up from your partner and had your right to reside because of them
- became a student and didn’t get medical insurance
- lost your job and have been looking for a new job for more than 6 months
To keep getting Child Tax Credits you need to show you have either settled status or pre-settled status and a right to reside.
Your right to reside depends on things like your work, family and personal situation. You can check if you have a right to reside.
If you’re single and your immigration status changes, claiming tax credits could affect your right to stay in the UK. Talk to an adviser to find out if you need to report the change.
Reporting a change of circumstance
It’s best to report the change online on GOV.UK if you're within the deadline. This makes it easy to include all of the information HMRC needs - and you save the cost of postage. For security HMRC will send you a text message with a code - you'll need to enter the code on GOV.UK to be able to report the change.
When you’ve finished reporting the change, HMRC will confirm they’ve received it. It’s a good idea to save or print this confirmation screen in case you need to refer to it later.
You can write to HMRC if you can’t report the change online. Write ‘change of circumstance’ clearly at the top of the letter. Send it by Royal Mail Signed For and keep the receipt - you might need to prove when you posted it and when it arrived.
Send the letter to:
HM Revenue and Customs
Tax Credit Office - change of circumstance
BX9 1ER
Phone the tax credits helpline if you’re near the 1-month deadline and can’t report the change online. It’s quicker to do this than writing a letter because HMRC will receive your change straight away.
Make a note of the date and time you call. Also write down the name of the person you spoke to and the HMRC office they work in - for example Preston or Belfast. You might need these details if you need to prove you reported the change.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) tax credits helpline
Telephone: 0345 300 3900
Relay UK - if you can't hear or speak on the phone, you can type what you want to say: 18001 then 0345 300 3900
You can use Relay UK with an app or a textphone. There’s no extra charge to use it. Find out how to use Relay UK on the Relay UK website.
If you're calling outside of the UK: +44 2890 538 192
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm
Telephone (Welsh language): 0300 200 1900
Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm
Your call is likely to be free of charge if you have a phone deal that includes free calls to landlines - find out more about calling 03 numbers.
Give as much information about the change as you can. For example if your partner has moved out tell HMRC their name, when they moved and what their new address is.
If you've missed the 1-month deadline
It’s better to report a change late than not to report it at all.
Call the tax credits helpline as soon as you can. Make a note of the date and time you call - you might need to refer to it later.
You can report the change online on GOV.UK if you can’t call the helpline. It’s quicker to do this than writing a letter because HMRC will receive your change straight away.
You can still write to HMRC if you can’t tell them over the phone or online. Write ‘change of circumstance’ clearly at the top of the letter. Send it by Royal Mail Signed For and keep the receipt - you might need to prove when you posted it and when it arrived.
HMRC might make you pay a penalty of up to £300. You can ask them not to do this if you have a good reason for reporting the change late - for example if someone in your family was seriously ill. Explain why you didn’t report it before and ask them not to make you pay the penalty.
If HMRC still says you have to pay the penalty, you can ask them to reduce the amount you have to pay. Explain why you think they should do this - for example if you told them as soon as you realised.
You can also ask HMRC to let you pay the penalty in smaller amounts over a longer period of time.
Finding out how much you’ll get after the change
HMRC might ask you for more information so they can work out how much to pay you. This is called a ‘compliance check’. They'll send you a letter telling you:
- what information you need to send them
- when you need to send it by
It’s important to send HMRC the information they’re asking for - if you don’t, they might stop your tax credits. Call the tax credits helpline if there’s anything you can’t send them.
When HMRC has got the information they need they’ll write to you to explain how your tax credits will change. Look out for the letter - this confirms they’ve recorded your change of circumstance and will be paying you the right amount of tax credits.
Check the letter to make sure HMRC has recorded the right change of circumstance. You’ll need to tell them within 1 month after the date on the letter if they’ve made a mistake. You can ask your nearest Citizens Advice if you’re not sure the letter’s right.
If you don’t get a letter from HMRC in 30 days
Call the tax credits helpline to check that HMRC have recorded your change of circumstance. You’ll need details of what the change was and when you told them about it - for example proof of postage if you sent a letter.
Try to save the extra tax credits if you think HMRC might be paying you too much. This will make it easier to pay it back if HMRC tells you to.
Your nearest Citizens Advice can help if you’re having trouble reporting a change of circumstance.