In this section:
Checking your tax credits award notice
If you qualify for tax credits, we will send you an award notice which tells you how much you will get based on the information you gave us in your claim form. You need to check the award notice carefully and tell us within one month, if anything is wrong, missing or incomplete.
What is an award notice?
The award notice is in three parts:
- section 1 is about you
- section 2 tells you how we worked out your tax credits
- section 3 is what we will pay you
It tells you:
- the type or types of tax credits you will get
- how much you will get
- what you told us, and how we used this to work out what to pay you
- what changes you need to tell us about, and when you need to tell us
- how and when we will pay your tax credits
You will get a checklist with your award notice that tells you what information you have to check and how to tell us about any changes.
Download a copy of the checklist (PDF
219K)
You should keep the award notice in a safe place.
When you will receive an award notice?
Your first award notice
We send you an award notice following your claim for tax credits. The tax credit payments you get throughout the year are temporary, or 'provisional'. This means that they are paid to you throughout the year based on your current circumstances and your income from last year. Between April and June each year we ask you to renew your claim, this helps us to check that the payments we've made to you are correct.
Amended award notice
You need to tell us about any changes in your circumstances during the year so that you are not paid too much or too little money in tax credits. For example, you'll need to tell us if you split up from your partner, or if you start working fewer hours. When you do this, or when there are any other changes, we'll send you an amended tax credits award notice. We aim to do this within 30 days of you telling us about the change. If you don't receive one within 30 days, let us know as soon as possible.
Final award notice
After the end of the year you need to renew your tax credits claim. This helps us to check that the payments we've made to you are correct based on your actual circumstances. Sometimes we will have paid you too much or not enough. 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.
When you have renewed your tax credits claim, we'll send you an award
notice with a final decision for the year that ended on 5 April. Although
the decision is final, you still need to check the award notice carefully
and tell us if anything is missing, wrong or incomplete.
You'll also be sent a separate award notice, telling you what your payments
will be going forward.
In some cases you won't need to respond to your renewal pack because:
- nothing has changed in your personal situation
- your income is still in the limits shown in your Annual Review notice
- there are no mistakes or missing details in your Annual Review notice
In this case your tax credits are automatically renewed, and your final decision is shown on the Annual Review notice that was in your renewal pack. You'll be sent no further award notices unless your circumstances change.
Why your tax credits claim has to be renewed
What to do when you get any award notice
It is our responsibility to put the right information on your award notice based on information you give us.
It is important that you check your award notice when you get one. Use the checklist that came with it to tell us if anything is wrong, missing or incomplete, or if there's anything you don't understand. You can do this by calling the Tax Credit Helpline. You should do this within 30 days of getting it.
Tell us about any changes
If you wait before telling us if anything is wrong, it may mean you are not getting all the money you are entitled to, or you could be building up an overpayment which you may have to pay back.
Contact the Tax Credit Helpline if you need help with your award notice, for example:
- you don't understand the information shown
- you're not sure if we've made a mistake
- you don't receive one within one month of telling us about a change in circumstance
If you tell us that there is a mistake on your award notice, we will put it right and send you a new one. In this case you may not have to pay back any overpayment.
Checking your tax credit payments
It is also important to check the amount of money going into your bank account. Part 3 of your award notice - Payment dates and amounts - will show your first payment, plus the amount to be paid every week or every four weeks. If a payment doesn't match the amount on your award notice call the Tax Credit Helpline as soon as possible.
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
How your tax credit payments are worked out
