In this section:
- Claiming tax credits - get started
- Claiming for children and childcare
- How to work out income or working hours for your tax credits claim
- Your family isn’t in the UK - help with your tax credits claim
- Mistakes on your tax credits claim
- Backdating or claiming ahead for tax credits
Your family isn’t in the UK - help with your tax credits claim
If you're in the UK but your family is abroad it's important you fill in your tax credits claim form correctly. If you don't, your payments may be delayed or you might be paid the wrong amount.
On this page:
- Joint claim or single claim?
- Countries in the EEA
- When to include children on the claim form
- What income you need to include
- You or your partner don't have a National Insurance number
- Where you live and work
- Signing the form
- Contact the Tax Credit Office
- More useful links
Joint claim or single claim?
You should make a single tax credit claim if one of the following applies:
- you're in the UK and your partner lives outside the UK, and you don't have any children
- you're in the UK and your partner and children live outside the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland - unless they are a Crown Servant posted overseas, in which case it should be a joint claim
- you have permanently split up from your partner and you have children in the EEA or Switzerland who are financially dependent on you
- you're in the UK, you don’t have any children and your partner has been abroad for longer than eight weeks (or longer than 12 weeks, if they’re abroad because either they or someone close to them is getting medical treatment or has died)
You should make a joint claim for tax credits if one of the following applies:
- you are in the UK and your partner and children are living or working in the EEA or Switzerland
- you're both in the UK and your partner goes abroad for eight weeks or less (or for up to 12 weeks if they or someone close to them is getting medical treatment or has died)
- your partner is a Crown Servant working anywhere overseas, for example in the armed forces
When you make a joint claim, you need to give information about your partner including:
- who they work for
- how much they earn
- the hours they work
Countries in the EEA
The countries in the EEA along with the UK are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
When to include children on the claim form
If you have a child you can include them on your claim form if you live in the UK and one of the following applies:
- your child normally lives with you
- your child lives with your partner or another person, for example a grandparent in the EEA or Switzerland, and is financially dependent on you
- you've permanently split up from your partner and your child lives in the EEA or Switzerland and is financially dependent on you
- your partner is a Crown Servant who is posted anywhere overseas and your child lives with them
You can also include a child on your claim form if you live in the EEA or Switzerland and regularly travel to the UK for work, for example every day.
What income you need to include
You need to include details on your claim form of:
- Your own income if you're making a single claim.
- Your income and your partner's income if you're making a joint claim. You need to give information about both of you on the claim form and you share the responsibility for making sure it's right.
- Any income from overseas including non-UK benefits, savings and earnings. You need to tell the Tax Credit Office about your overseas income, whether or not it was received in the UK.
You have to give the amounts in British pounds, not foreign currency. You can follow the link below to use an exchange rate calculator. Use the rate that is the average for the year your income relates to. For example if your income relates to the tax year 6 April 2008 to 5 April 2009, use the average that is shown for the year ended 31 March 2009.
Go the exchange rate calculator
If you get some family benefits from the EEA, you don't include them as income, but you will need to tell the Tax Credit Office about them when you send in your claim form. You can do this by sending in a separate note with your form.
How to work out your income for your tax credits claim
Find out how non-UK benefits affect your tax credits
You or your partner don't have a National Insurance number
You normally need a National Insurance number to:
- work in the UK
- pay National Insurance
- get tax credits
You may not have a National Insurance number yet. But you should still send in your claim form along with a separate note that gives:
- the reason why you haven't got a National Insurance number
- your name and address
Your partner may also not have a National Insurance number - for example because they haven't worked in the UK. But you should still send in the claim form and explain why they don't have one.
If you or your partner haven’t applied for a National Insurance number yet, the Tax Credit Office will get in touch with you to let you know what you need to do to apply for one.
Where you live and work
Give the address where you and your partner - if you have one - are actually living when you fill in the claim form. Don’t put a UK address for your partner if your partner does not live in the UK. Put the address where they normally live, including the country. This will help the Tax Credit Office deal with your claim correctly and get a National Insurance number for you or your partner - otherwise this may delay your payments or mean you may not get paid what you are entitled to.
Signing the form
If you're making a joint claim, both of you need to sign the form. But if your partner lives outside the UK and can't sign the form you should sign it yourself. And you should send in a note saying why your partner couldn't sign it.
Contact the Tax Credit Office
You can call the Tax Credit Helpline, which is open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, seven days a week, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The numbers you can ring are:
- Tel 0845 300 3900
- Textphone 0845 300 3909
Or, if you're calling from overseas, you can also contact the Tax Credit Office on Tel + 44 289 053 8192.
You can ask the helpline for someone to translate for you when you call.
More useful links
New arrivals to the UK and tax credits
