In this section:
Tax credits: changes you need to report and when
It's very important to tell the Tax Credit Office about any changes in your circumstances that could affect your tax credits payments. If you don’t, you may be paid too much tax credits (an overpayment) or not get everything you’re entitled to. Some changes you need to report within one month, like stopping work, and others within three months, for example having a baby.
On this page:
- Why it's so important to report a change straight away
- Getting married, living with someone - or no longer with a partner
- Leaving the UK - or losing the ‘right to reside’ in the UK
- Work and income
- Address and bank details
- Family changes
- Childcare
- How to report the change
- More useful links
Why it's so important to report a change straight away
Not telling the Tax Credit Office about a change in circumstances straight away is one of the main reasons that overpayments happen.
If you don't tell the Tax Credit Office straight away about a change they won't know about it until you renew your tax credits, usually between April and July of the following year. This could mean you may:
- have been overpaid from the date of the change - which you may have to pay back
- have to pay a penalty of up to £300 if you’ve been overpaid
- not have been paid enough tax credits throughout the year because
the Tax Credit Office didn’t know that you were entitled to more money
Getting married, living with someone - or no longer with a partner
Within one month, tell the Tax Credit Office if:
- you’ve got married or are in a civil partnership - and have been claiming tax credits as an individual
- you are now living with someone as if you were married or in a civil partnership - and have been claiming tax credits as an individual
- you have now separated permanently or your partner has died - and you’ve been getting tax credits as part of a couple
Leaving the UK - or losing the 'right to reside' in the UK
Within one month tell the Tax Credit Office if you - or your partner:
- leave the UK for good
- leave the UK for any period and you expect to be away for more than 52 weeks at the point you - or your partner - leave
- go abroad for a short stay of more than eight weeks – or for more than 12 weeks if you or a family member is being treated for an illness, or if someone in your family (or your partner’s family) has died
- lose the right to reside in the UK
Can you claim tax credits if you live outside the UK?
Going abroad temporarily and claiming tax credits
Work and income
Within one month, tell the Tax Credit Office if:
- you stop working – even if you’re self-employed
- you have been working at least 16 hours a week and your hours drop to less than 16
- you have been working at least 30 hours a week, you’re single and your hours drop to less than 30
- you have been working at least 30 hours a week, you’re in a couple with children and your total hours drop to less than 30
- you are on strike - and it's gone on for more than ten working days in a row
Within three months, tell the Tax Credit Office if you:
- change your job and there is a gap between finishing that job and starting the next one
- expect your income for the current tax year to be more or less than last year’s income – a tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April the following year
Changes to your usual working hours and tax credits
Temporary gaps in work when claiming tax credits
Find out more about changes in income and tax credits
Address and bank details
Tell the Tax Credit Office as quickly as possible if you:
- move home
- change your phone number
- get a different bank or building society account
Family changes
Changes involving all children – from new baby up to the age of 20
Within one month, tell the Tax Credit Office if your child:
- leaves home to live with someone else
- is taken into care
- is placed with a family for fostering or adoption
- has received a custodial sentence of four months or more
- dies
Within three months, tell the Tax Credit Office if:
- you have a baby
- a child or young person joins your family, perhaps because you foster or adopt
New baby - what tax credits are you entitled to?
Once your child reaches 16
Within one month, tell the Tax Credit Office if your child:
- leaves full time education or approved training after the 1 September following their sixteenth birthday
- starts full-time education that's provided as part of a job or through any office they hold (such as a scout leader or councillor)
- starts approved training that’s being provided as part of any contract of employment
- gets Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance or tax credits in their own right
- starts doing paid work for 24 hours or more a week and they’re not in full time education or approved training
Within three months, tell the Tax Credit Office if your child:
- stays on - or goes back to - school or full-time education
- starts an approved training course
- stops school or college or approved training, is aged 16 or 17 and registers with a careers service, like Connexions
Your child reaches 16 – are you still entitled to tax credits?
A member of your family is taken into custody
Within three months, tell the Tax Credit Office if you or your partner:
- receive a custodial sentence
- have been remanded in custody awaiting trial or sentence
Tax credits if you or a member of the family goes into custody
Childcare
Your childcare costs change – or you start paying for childcare
Within one month, tell the Tax Credit Office if:
- you stop paying for childcare
- your average childcare costs go down by £10 a week or more – and if you pay the same amount every week the change lasts for at least four weeks in a row
- you get help with your childcare from a local authority or any other government department, such as the early years education grant for three and four year olds
- you start getting help with your childcare costs through your employer (or from anyone else), such as vouchers or other salary sacrifice scheme
Within three months, tell the Tax Credit Office if:
- you start paying a registered or approved childcare provider to look after your child
- you are already getting help with your childcare costs through tax credits and your costs go up by £10 a week or more on average – and if you pay the same amount every week the change lasts for at least four weeks in a row
Help with childcare costs - do you qualify?
Changes to childcare arrangements and tax credits
Changes involving your childcare provider
Within one month, tell the Tax Credit Office if:
- your childcare provider has lost their registration or approval
- your childcare provider decides not to renew their registration or approval
- their registration or approval has run out (even if they have applied to renew their registration)
- you change your childcare provider, even if your average weekly childcare cost does not change by £10 or more
- you start using a child care provider who is not registered or approved for tax credits purposes
- you start using a relative to look after your child at home
Find out more about changes to childcare arrangements and tax credits
How to report the change
You can report your change by calling the Tax Credit Helpline.
Contact the Tax Credit Helpline
More useful links
You haven’t reported a change – what happens to your tax credits
Find out about changes that affect your benefits on the Directgov website (Opens new window)
