You haven't reported a change - what happens to your tax credits?

Tax credits are flexible and change when your life changes. So tell us straight away about any changes. If you wait you may not be getting all the money you are entitled to, or you could be building up an overpayment that you may have to pay back.

What happens if you don't tell us about a change?

It is your responsibility to tell us about any change of circumstance that affects your tax credits, for example if you separate from your partner. As soon as you tell us about a change, we will recalculate your payments and send you an amended award notice.

If you wait to tell us about a change that affects your tax credit payments, you may:

not be getting all the money you're entitled to
be paid too much money (an overpayment)
have to pay a penalty of up to £300

So tell us straight away so that the information we have about you is correct and up to date. If you don't tell us about a change, we won't know about it until you confirm your actual circumstances when you renew your tax credits after the end of the year. At this point we check whether you received all the money you were entitled to. It may turn out that you didn't get all the money you should. Or if you got too much money, your current tax credits payments - if you still qualify, are usually reduced to repay the money.

Repaying overpaid tax credits

Tax credits - rights and responsibilities

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What happens if you're late telling us about a change?

Changes you must tell us about within a month

Some changes mean that your tax credit payments will go down, for example you stop working or your child leaves full-time education. You must tell us about such changes within one month, or you will end up with an overpayment and may get charged a penalty of up to £300. Any reduction in your payments will be backdated to the date of the change.

Other changes you should tell us about

Some changes in circumstance mean your tax credit payments will go up, such as having a baby. Although you don't need to tell us within one month, it's better to do it straight away as your increase in tax credit payments can only be backdated by up to three months. So if you had a baby on 12 June but you didn't tell us until 12 October, we could only give you the extra money from 12 July. You would miss out on one month's extra payment.

The checklist that came with your award notice will tell you which changes to report within one month of them happening. It's also a good idea to tell us about any other changes straight away to avoid an overpayment.

Check which changes you need to report and when

Find out why it's so important to tell us about a change

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Contact the Tax Credit Office

If you need more help you can call the Tax Credits Helpline which is open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. The numbers you can ring are:

tel 0845 300 3900
textphone 0845 300 3909 - if you are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment

If you're calling from overseas you can also contact the Tax Credit Office on Tel + 44 289 053 8192.