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If you or your partner are on maternity, paternity or adoption leave, you may still be treated as working for Working Tax Credit purposes. It'll depend on what your usual working hours were before you went on leave, and the length of time you're off work.
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Your usual working hours are the hours you worked every week before you went on leave. To get Working Tax Credit, you must normally be aged 25 or over and work at least 30 hours a week. But you only need to work 16 hours or more a week if you are:
You should expect your paid work to continue for at least four weeks.
Working out usual working hours for your tax credits claim
You count as being in work for up to 39 weeks. This is the first 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave, and the first 13 weeks of any additional maternity leave.
You can still get Working Tax Credit as long as you worked at least 16 or 30 hours a week - whichever applied - beforehand.
If you're claiming Working Tax Credit for the first time, you must have been working at least 16 hours a week before going on maternity leave.
Whichever hours apply, you must have been working them immediately before you went on leave.
If you go back to work immediately after your first 39 weeks of maternity leave are over, you can continue to claim Working Tax Credit.
Any further leave - paid or unpaid - you take after the first 39 weeks doesn't count as being in work. So you may not be entitled to Working Tax Credit for this period, unless both of the following apply:
You might not go back to work immediately after your first 39 weeks of maternity leave. If so, and you're claiming Working Tax Credit, you need to let the Tax Credit Office know. You can do this by calling the Tax Credit Helpline. You need to get in touch within one month. If you don't, you may be paid too much money which you'll have to pay back, and you may be asked to pay a penalty.
Contact details for the Tax Credit Helpline
Find out more about maternity leave on Directgov (Opens new window)
You count as being in work for up to 39 weeks. This is the first 26 weeks of ordinary adoption leave and the first 13 weeks of any additional adoption leave. You're also treated as being in work for the two weeks of ordinary paternity leave and during any additional paternity leave.
You can still get Working Tax Credit as long as you worked 16 or 30 hours a week - whichever applied - beforehand.
If you're claiming Working Tax Credit for the first time, you must have been working at least 16 hours a week before your leave began.
Whichever hours apply, you must have been working them immediately before you went on leave.
You'll still be able to claim or keep getting Working Tax Credit if you go back to work immediately after:
It doesn't count as work if you take any further leave - paid or unpaid - immediately after the end of any of the following:
So you may not be entitled to Working Tax Credit for this period, unless both of the following apply:
You might not go back to work immediately after your first 39 weeks of adoption leave, or ordinary or additional paternity leave. If so, and you're getting Working Tax Credit, you need to let the Tax Credit Office know. You can do this by calling the Tax Credit Helpline. You need to do get in touch within one month. If you don't, you may be paid too much money which you'll have to pay back, and you may be charged a penalty.
Contact details for the Tax Credit Helpline
Find out more about paternity leave on Directgov (Opens new window)
Find out more about adoption leave on Directgov (Open new window)
You may also be able to claim Child Tax Credit for your new baby or adopted child - you don't have to be working. You may be able to claim from the date of placement for adoption or birth of your child. Any claim can only be backdated up to three months to the date of birth or adoption, so you should claim as soon as possible. If you're unsure whether you can claim, you can contact the Tax Credit Helpline for help and advice.
New baby - what tax credits are you entitled to?
Contact details for the Tax Credit Helpline
You may also qualify for Child Benefit which is a tax-free payment that you can claim for your child. Your income or savings do not affect it, and you do not have to be receiving tax credits to get it.
