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Help with the tax credits renewal pack

Each year you will get a tax credits renewal pack. You need to check your renewal forms and make sure you report the right information to the Tax Credit Office. This will help them check if you were paid the right amount of money in the year just ended - and that your payments are right for the coming year.

Your renewal forms

Your renewal pack may be made up in one of the following ways:

  • just an Annual Review notice
  • an Annual Review notice and an Annual Declaration

The Annual Review notice

The Annual Review notice gives details of the tax credits you received during the year and your personal circumstances. It also tells you how to renew your tax credits.

You get an Annual Review notice only if one of the following applies to you:

  • you just get the family element of Child Tax Credit
  • you claimed tax credits but didn't get them because your income is too high (a ‘nil award’)

The Annual Declaration

The Annual Declaration asks you to provide details of your income for the tax year that started on 6 April 2009 and ended on 5 April

2010.

Important information to check on your Annual Review notice

Check the following on your Annual Review notice:

  • the personal circumstances you gave to the Tax Credit Office at the start of your award period
  • any changes you have since reported

Tell the Tax Credit Helpline immediately if anything has changed, or if anything is wrong, missing or incomplete.

If you claimed tax credits as an individual – or as a couple

Your notice tells you if you claimed as an individual or as a couple (known as a ‘joint’ claim).

A joint claim applies if you are:

  • married
  • in a civil partnership
  • living together like you're married or in a civil partnership

You are still a couple if you are living apart temporarily.

There are some exceptions to this. For example you may need to claim as a single person if your partner is outside of the UK or you have split up permanently.

Where you live

Your notice shows the country you live in most of the time. It doesn’t matter if you sometimes go to other countries for holidays for less than eight weeks. You may also be able to get tax credits if you live outside of the UK.

Your work or benefits

Your notice shows the country you work in most of the time and the number of hours a week you usually work.

It may also show you if you got certain benefits, for example Income Support, or if you are getting the 50-plus element of Working Tax Credit.

If you have a disability

Your notice tells you if you qualified for the disability - or severe disability - element of Working Tax Credit.

If you have children

Your notice shows you information about any children you claimed for, including if your child has a disability.

You can usually get Child Tax Credit for children up to the age of 16 – or up to the age of 20 if they are in full-time education or approved training – as long as the education or training counts for tax credits.

If you pay childcare costs

If you work at least 16 hours a week and pay for childcare, you may be able to get an extra Working Tax Credit payment to help with the costs. You must use registered or approved childcare.

Your notice tells you if you qualify for help with your childcare costs.

If your circumstances have changed

Your notice tells you about any changes of circumstances you reported. Check that the information is correct.

Some examples of changes you need to report include:

  • your family – if you’ve got married, had a new baby or your child has left full-time education
  • a disability – if you started to get a disability benefit for yourself or for your child
  • where you live – if you have gone abroad temporarily, permanently or lost the right to reside in the UK
  • work or benefits – if your hours have changed, you’ve been on maternity leave for a while or social security benefits have started or stopped
  • childcare and childcare costs – if you no longer use a registered or approved childcare provider, your costs have stopped or gone up or down by £10 or more a week
  • List of all the changes you need to report for tax credits

How to work out your total income

You need to work out your total income so that you can:

  • check if the income shown on the Annual Review notice is correct – if it’s wrong, get in touch with the Tax Credit Helpline straightaway
  • correctly complete your Annual Declaration (if you were sent one)

You can use the working sheet in the help notes sent with your renewal pack to make a note of your income.

Social security benefits

Some social security benefits are taxable, such as Bereavement Allowance or contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, and they count as income when you make a tax credits claim.

Others, such as Disability Living Allowance, don’t count as income.

If you’re employed

If you're employed, you should get a P60 from your employer at the end of the tax year, showing what you earned.

You'll also need to report any taxable benefits you got from the job, and about any other money you got for example from stocks and shares or from bank interest.

If you didn't get a P60, your March payslip will show how much you earned in the past tax year. If you don't have either, you'll need to make an estimate of what you earned. If it was more or less the same each week or month, multiply this by:

  • 52 - if you're paid weekly
  • 12 - if you're paid monthly
  • 13 - if you're paid every four weeks

If you didn't get the same wages each time you were paid, you'll need to add up all the money you received during the year.

If you do estimate your income, you must tell the Tax Credit Office the actual income figure as soon as you can.

If you’re self-employed

If you're self-employed, your income is the profit you made, and you should use the amount from your tax return.

If you haven't sent in your tax return, you'll need to give an estimate of your profit. This is the difference between all the money you made from doing work or selling goods and the cost of doing that business.

If you do estimate your income, you must tell the Tax Credit Office the actual income figure as soon as you can.

Other income

You’ll also need to work out your other income. This includes for example pensions, income from property, income that you receive from abroad and savings.

When to renew

It's very important that you renew your tax credits claim as quickly as possible. The sooner you renew, the sooner the Tax Credit Office can make sure you get the money you're entitled to.

More useful links

In this section...

Tax credits

Fill in the tax credits questionnaire to see if you qualify.

 

Do it online