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Thousands of people have just one week left to renew tax credits

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
24/07/2019

People who claim tax credits have just one week left to renew them or risk having their payments stopped.

More than 1.3 million claimants have already renewed their tax credits but around 760,000 still need to do so before the deadline of 31 July, according to HMRC.

Last year, 274,981 customers had their payments stopped or altered because they missed the deadline to inform HMRC of changes to their circumstances.

There are two types of tax credits – child tax credit and working tax credit. You can claim one or both of them, depending on your household circumstances.

Tax credits are gradually being replaced by Universal Credit but around 2 million people in the UK currently claim them.

Existing claimants receive a renewal pack between April and July. However, customers will not get a renewal pack until April 2020 if they first claimed tax credits after 6 April 2019.

The benefit can be renewed online at gov.uk or by using the HMRC smartphone app. Claimants can also use the government portal to check on the progress of their renewal, be reassured it’s being processed and know when they’ll hear back from HMRC.

Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s director general of customer services, said: “It’s fantastic that so many customers have already renewed their tax credits. I urge those who are yet to renew to do so as soon as possible, in order to avoid having their payments stopped.”