How to claim tax credits

You can claim tax credits by post or in person - and there's plenty of help available if you need it.

How to claim

To claim tax credits you have to fill in a claim form. You can order a tax credits claim pack from the Tax Credit Helpline on Tel 0845 300 3900 or textphone 0845 300 3909.

The helpline is open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

You can fill the form in yourself and send it back by post. If you need any help completing the form you can call the Tax Credit Helpline who will be happy to provide further advice.

If you claim other benefits, such as Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance or Jobseekers Allowance, your Jobcentre Plus - or in Northern Ireland, a Social Security office - will help you with your tax credits claim form.

Who should claim?

If you live with someone as a couple you must make a joint tax credits claim - you can't decide to claim as a single person. You'll have to put down information about both of you on the claim form and you'll share responsibility for making sure that this information is correct.

When to make a joint or single tax credits claim

When to claim

Make a claim for tax credits as soon as you think you qualify. If you wait to claim you could lose money because tax credits can normally only be backdated up to three months from the date we get your claim form. For example, if you have a baby on 12 June but we do not get your claim form until 12 October, we will only backdate your payments to 12 July.

Sometimes it might be worth making a claim even if you think your income is too high to get any money at the moment. You might want to do this if you expect your income to go down later in the year, perhaps because of redundancy.

Likewise, you should let us know if you make a claim for a sickness or disability benefit that would mean you get extra tax credits payments. If you are later told that you are entitled to the benefit, your extra tax credits payments will be backdated to the earliest possible date.

When your tax credit claim can be backdated

Protect your right to tax credits by claiming early

Information you need to make a claim

When you make a claim you'll need to give us details of your income for the last tax year. A tax year runs from 6 April one year to 5 April the next.

To make your claim you might need the following information to hand:

your National Insurance number
your Child Benefit reference number
your P60 or wage slips for the last tax year if you were employed
details of your income for the last tax year and your unique tax reference number (UTR) if you were self-employed
details of any benefits you get like contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance or Carer's Allowance
details of other income you get like savings interest, pensions or rent
details of any childcare payments you make if you use a registered or approved provider, including, for example, an out of school hours club on school premises
details of the bank or building society account you want us to pay your tax credits into

You'll get a set of notes with your claim form that will help you fill it in. If you need more help, you can call the Tax Credit Helpline on Tel 0845 300 3900 or textphone 0845 300 3909.

Download notes on making a tax credits claim (PDF 2.6MB)

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.