In this section:
- Get authority to act for someone else
- Entitlement tables for tax credits
- Tax credits manuals, rates and thresholds
- Contacts for tax credits advisers
Contacts for tax credits advisers
If you need to contact the Tax Credit Office on someone's behalf there are different contact points to choose from. The right one to use depends on who you are and what advice you need. You can only contact a particular team or specialist if you have their direct number.
Before you make contact
Before you can speak to anyone about someone else's tax credits affairs you'll need to have authority to act for them. You can ask your client to authorise you for:
- The duration of the call. They'll need to confirm that they want you to act on their behalf at the start of the telephone call.
- A longer period. If so, they can authorise you by filling in the appropriate authorisation form, usually the TC689 Authority for an intermediary to act on your behalf.
Read more about acting on a client's behalf for tax credits
Tax Credit Helpline
You can use this helpline to discuss someone else's tax credits if you're:
- an adviser from the voluntary and community sector
- an unpaid helper such as a friend or relative
Call the Tax Credit Helpline if you want:
- specific tax credits advice for your client
- advice about tax credits repayments if your client has had an overpayment and it's being recovered from their ongoing tax credits award
Contact details
The Helpline 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 outside the UK you can contact the helpline on Tel + 44 289 053 8192.
Tax Credit Payment Helpline
Use this helpline if you want to discuss repayment options for your client if:
- they have had a notice telling them they need to pay back an overpayment and they're no longer getting tax credits
- the overpayment relates to an old award of tax credits as a result of a change in household circumstances - for example, your client may now be getting tax credits jointly with their partner but the overpayment relates to an earlier single claim
Contact details
You can call the Tax Credit Payment Helpline on Tel 0845 302 1429. The helpline is open from 8.00 am until 8.00 pm seven days a week except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
Agent Priority Line for tax credits
You can use this helpline if you're a paid adviser such as an accountant, and you're authorised to act as an agent for your client.
All calls to this helpline are passed through to a contact centre and identified as calls from an agent. Helpline advisers will be able to verify you quickly and deal with your call as efficiently as possible.
Contact details
If you're an authorised agent you can call the Agent Priority Line on Tel 0845 300 3943. The priority line is open from 8.00 am until 8.00 pm seven days a week except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
Other contact points
Other contact points for tax credits advisers depend on your client's particular situation.
You can't normally get in touch directly with a specific team or specialist. But if one of these contacts your client about their tax credits claim, then the letter will usually have their contact details on it. You should use these contact details if you need to discuss the matter, which could be for example:
- court action faced by your client because of tax credits fraud
- a dispute about an overpayment
- a request for specific information as part of a tax credits enquiry
- a request for information to help establish your client's residency in the UK
If you're not sure who to contact you can call one of the helplines above.
If you need to write in
If you want to write to the Tax Credit Office and you don't have a specific contact point you can send correspondence to:
Tax Credit Office
Preston
PR1 0SB
If you're writing on behalf of a client to report a change of circumstances please mark your envelope 'change of circumstances'.
More useful links
Get details of money, tax and benefits contacts on the Directgov website (Opens new window)
