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There could be a number of reasons why your tax credit payments go down or stop. It may be for the simple reason that your circumstances have changed and the Tax Credit Office has changed the amount they're paying you.
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The most common reasons why your payments may have gone down or stopped are:
The reasons are explained in more detail below.
If your child is now over the age of 16, your Child Tax Credit payments for them may have stopped. This could be because the Tax Credit Office didn't know your child was staying on in full-time education (or on an approved training course). It's very important to tell the Tax Credit Office about your child's plans. If you don't do anything, your payments for that child will automatically stop on 31 August after their sixteenth birthday.
Your child reaches 16 - can you still get Child Tax Credit?
You'll get an award notice if your tax credits payments change. This may say that your payments are going down because the Tax Credit Office has paid you too much. This could happen if you haven't told them about a change in circumstance, or your income has gone up. If your payments have stopped because you no longer qualify for tax credits, the Tax Credit Office will ask you to make a direct payment to pay back any outstanding overpayment.
You've been overpaid tax credits - how did this happen?
If you've changed your bank, building society or Post Office® card account details recently and haven't told the Tax Credit Office, then your payment will have been sent to your old account. You'll need to tell the Tax Credit Office your new account details as soon as possible. This will make sure that future payments are paid to your correct account.
Find out which changes in circumstance you need to report by when
If the Tax Credit Office can't contact you at the address they hold, they may stop your tax credits payments. So if you move you need to let them know your new address in good time.
Find out which changes in circumstance you need to report by when
If you've been getting your tax credits paid by cash cheque, your payments may stop if you haven't given the Tax Credit Office your bank, building society, or Post Office® card account details. This could happen eight weeks after the date the Tax Credit Office asked you for this information.
If you don't already have an account, you must open one and provide the details to the Tax Credit Office.
More about bank accounts and how tax credits are paid
The Tax Credit Office will ask you to renew your tax credits after the end of each tax year. They can then make sure you have been paid the right amount of tax credits for the previous tax year. They will also check they are paying you the right amount for the current tax year.
The Tax Credit Office send you a renewal pack, which you must usually complete by 31 July. If you don't renew your tax credits, your payments will stop. You may have to pay back any payments you have received since 6 April as well as any overpayments.
Why your tax credits claim has to be renewed
What happens if you don't renew your tax credits
If you get Child Tax Credit, your tax credits payments may have stopped from 6 April 2011 because of changes to income limits announced in the June 2010 Budget. These limits are the amount of total income you can have before your tax credits payments start to be reduced or stop altogether.
For the last tax year (6 April 2010 to 5 April 2011), if your total income was under £50,000 your basic Child Tax Credit payments would not be reduced. But from 6 April 2011, this limit dropped to £40,000. So if your income is likely to be over this amount from that date your payments will be affected.
The Tax Credit Office will use your latest income details to work out your new payments. Report any changes to the Tax Credit Helpline as soon as possible, especially if:
How to work out your total income
Find out which changes in circumstance you need to report by when
The extra payment for having a baby under the age of one (known as the 'baby addition') stopped from 6 April 2011. This is because of changes announced in the June 2010 Budget. So if all your other circumstances have stayed the same, your payments will have gone down from that date.
Changes in circumstance you need to report by when
The amount of help you can get with your childcare costs dropped from 80 per cent to 70 per cent from 6 April 2011. The most you can claim for each week is £175 for one child and £300 for two or more children.
This means that the maximum help you can get through tax credits for your childcare is now:
This change could have reduced your tax credits payments.
Help with childcare costs - do you qualify for extra tax credits?
If your income is expected to be more than £10,000 higher than last year, you may get less tax credits.
If your income is expected to be less than £10,000 higher than last year, it will make no difference to the amount of tax credits you'll receive for the current year. However it's still a good idea to let the Tax Credit Office know about the change. The increased income will be taken into account:
If you don't tell them about a change in income:
Changes in income and tax credits
You can report any changes to the Tax Credit Helpline.
Contact details for the Tax Credit Helpline
Check if you qualify for tax credits - quick questionnaire
How your tax credits entitlement is worked out
How to avoid being paid too much or not enough tax credits
