In this section:
- Why your tax credits claim has to be renewed
- Help with the tax credits renewal pack
- Getting ready to renew your tax credits?
- Working out income from employment for your tax credits claim
- Working out income from self-employment for your tax credits claim
- Working out other income for your tax credits claim
- Deadlines for renewing your tax credits claim
Why your tax credits claim has to be renewed
Your tax credits are awarded for a tax year. We ask you to renew your claim after the end of each year so that your payments will continue. It also helps us check whether we paid you the right money during the year and whether we should carry on paying you the same amount of money going forward.
The tax credits annual cycle
When you first make a claim for tax credits, any payments you get are based on your income from the last tax year, and your current personal circumstances. A tax year runs from 6 April one year to 5 April the next. So if you're making a claim because you've just had a baby, we'll take this into account along with your income for the year that ended on 5 April 2008.
The tax credit payments you get throughout the year are temporary or 'provisional' until you confirm your actual income and circumstances as part of the renewals process.
It is important that you tell us about any changes to your circumstances straight away as it could affect the amount of money you should be getting. For example, you must tell us within one month if you split up from your partner, or if you start working fewer hours. Otherwise you might not get all the money you should - or you may end up getting too much and may have to pay it back.
When you tell us about a change, we will send you an award notice confirming
the new information provided by you, and any changes to your payments.
It is important that you check each award notice you get carefully using
the checklist that came with it, and let us know if anything is incomplete,
missing or wrong within one month.
After the end of each year we ask you to renew - or in some cases we
will automatically renew your claim. This helps us to check that the
payments we've made to you are correct, and to set your payments for
the coming year. Sometimes we will have paid you too much (an overpayment)
or not enough (an underpayment). If this happens we will either make
an adjustment to your payments, or if you have been paid too much but
you're no longer getting tax credits, we'll ask you to make a direct
payment - a one off payment for the full amount.
Why is it important to renew?
It's important to renew so that you can:
- check that we have the right information
- make sure your income is still within the limits for getting tax credits
- tell us if anything has changed
- continue to get all the money you're entitled to
If you don't renew your tax credits, you may only receive payments for a limited period after the end of the tax year and you'll have to repay any overpayment from the previous year as well as any money paid to you since 6 April.
How to renew
We will send you a renewal pack between April and June which you must respond to. You don't have to complete any paperwork if you don't want to, you can renew by phone.
The renewal pack includes an Annual Review notice which tells you what to do to renew your tax credits. Most people will also get an Annual Declaration form in their pack as well.
It's important you read the Annual Review notice carefully - it will tell you how to renew your tax credits.
You must:
- check the information provided on your Annual Review notice
- tell us if anything has changed
You may also be asked to give details of your income in the last tax year on the Annual Declaration form.
You can return the information by either:
- calling the Tax Credit Helpline on 0845 300 3900
- completing the Annual Declaration form - if you were sent one, and returning it in the envelope provided
If you've only got an Annual Review notice, you don't need to do anything if:
- nothing has changed in your personal situation
- your income is still in the limits shown in the notice
- there are no mistakes or missing details in the notice
Your tax credits will be automatically renewed.
Help with the tax credits renewal pack
Who will receive a renewal pack?
You will receive a renewal pack even if you claimed tax credits but didn't get them because your income is too high (a nil award), and even if you only got tax credits for part of the year.
If you have made more than one tax credits claim during the year, you will be sent a separate renewal pack for each claim. You must fill in each one separately.
What happens if you don't renew?
If you don't renew, your payments will stop and you will have to pay back any overpayment from the previous year as well as any money paid to you since 6 April.
The deadline for all replies is shown on your Annual Review form -
usually 31 July. Don't wait for the deadline. The sooner you check your
details and tell us of any changes, the sooner we can make sure you
get the money you're entitled to.
Check the deadlines for renewing your tax credits
claim
Why you need to tell us about changes
You should tell us about changes in your personal circumstances straight away. You could lose money if you don't as tax credits can only be backdated by up to three months. For example if you have a baby on 12 June, but do not tell us until 12 October, we will only backdate your payments until 12 July.
Check which changes you need to tell us about and when
Find out why it's so important to tell us about a change
Contact us
You can contact our Tax Credit Helpline on Tel 0845 300 3900 or textphone 0845 300 3909 (open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, seven days a week except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day).
More useful links
Checking your tax credits award notice
