Tax credit customers will start receiving their annual renewal notice this week, the Government announced.
Almost three-quarters of a million (730,000) tax credit claimants will get their notices from HMRC between 2 May and 19 June.
If you receive a letter through the post with a black stripe, your notice will be renewed without any further action needing to be taken. The pack will say how much your payment will be, known as an ‘award notice’.
But, if your notice has a red stripe, you need to contact HMRC to renew your tax credits. While your circumstances are awaiting approval from HMRC, you will receive an estimated payment until the renewal is confirmed. This amount might differ from your previous award, based on the information from either your employer or pension provider.
This is only expected to impact 10,000 recipients, who will need to head to GOV.uk or use their HMRC app to renew the tax credits. The deadline to do so is 31 July, and if you miss this deadline, there is a risk any payments will come to a halt.
What to consider for potential tax credit renewal
Also, if you have had any life changes that could affect your claim, HMRC has requested you contact it.
Those instances might include:
- Relationship changes (moving in with a new partner, getting married or divorced)
- Children leaving home
- A change in working hours
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s director general for customer services, said: “Tax credits are valued by many families for their essential contribution to the monthly family budget, so to avoid payments being stopped, please respond to HMRC by the 31 July deadline.”
Further, if the 31 July deadline is missed, you cannot claim for tax credits, but there are alternative benefits to apply for. If you miss the deadline by more than 30 days, you may be able to restore your claim if there is a reason for the delay deemed to be a ‘good cause’ by HMRC.
Alternative options to tax credits
The alternative options if your payment isn’t restored:
- Universal Credit, if you’re under state pension age (or your partner is)
- Pension Credit, if you (and your partner) are over state pension age
From 5 April 2025, tax credits will be replaced by the Universal Credit scheme, and recipients of the credit will receive a ‘migration notice’ informing them of the changes.
Meanwhile, HMRC has warned customers to be wary of scammers as the date to renew approaches. It’s asked people to ignore suspicious texts, phone calls or emails requesting their bank details and reassured customers that it will never ring anyone out of the blue making threats to transfer money.
Last year, fraudsters’ fresh batch of scams targeted the renewal deadline, offering bogus grants or fake support packages.
