Check if a change affects your tax credits

You must tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about any change in your money, work or home life if you’re getting tax credits. HMRC calls this a ‘change of circumstances’. 

You have to tell them even if it seems like a small change, or it’s only for a short time. For example, let them know if your partner or child moves out - even if they’re planning to move back in with you.

Most changes have to be reported within 1 month. It’s best to report all changes as soon as possible to make sure you’re getting the right amount of tax credits. Don’t wait until it’s time to renew your tax credits claim each year.

The change might increase your payment and you might miss out on extra money if you tell HMRC late.

You should still tell HMRC if you think a change might reduce your tax credits - you won't save money by reporting it later. If you tell HMRC late you could get paid too much and have to pay your tax credits back to HMRC. This is called an overpayment - check how HMRC deals with overpayments.

If you’ve been told to claim Universal Credit by a certain date

The Department for Work and Pensions are stopping some people’s benefits and telling them to claim Universal Credit instead.

If you get a letter telling you to claim Universal Credit by a certain deadline, this is a ‘migration notice’. You should claim Universal Credit by the deadline in the migration notice. Your old benefits will stop after the deadline.

You might miss out on some money if you apply after the deadline. 

Check what you should do if you get a migration notice.

Changes you have to report

You have to report all of these changes to HMRC, even if another government department already knows about them. For example if you tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about a change that affects your other benefits, you still need to tell HMRC about it as well.

When you tell HMRC about most types of changes, your tax credits claim and payments will stop. 

You’ll only be able to get:

• Working Tax Credits if you already get Child Tax Credits

• Child Tax Credits if you already get Working Tax Credits

If you made a claim for tax credits in the last tax year, you might be able to make a new claim. You should talk to an adviser to find out if you can. 

If you can’t claim tax credits, you should check if you can get Universal Credit instead.

Reporting a change of circumstance

It’s best to report the change online on GOV.UK if you're within the deadline. This makes it easy to include all of the information HMRC needs - and you save the cost of postage. For security HMRC will send you a text message with a code - you'll need to enter the code on GOV.UK to be able to report the change.

When you’ve finished reporting the change, HMRC will confirm they’ve received it. It’s a good idea to save or print this confirmation screen in case you need to refer to it later.

You can write to HMRC if you can’t report the change online. Write ‘change of circumstance’ clearly at the top of the letter. Send it by Royal Mail Signed For and keep the receipt - you might need to prove when you posted it and when it arrived.

Send the letter to:

HM Revenue and Customs

Tax Credit Office - change of circumstance

BX9 1ER

Phone the tax credits helpline if you’re near the 1-month deadline and can’t report the change online. It’s quicker to do this than writing a letter because HMRC will receive your change straight away.

Make a note of the date and time you call. Also write down the name of the person you spoke to and the HMRC office they work in - for example Preston or Belfast. You might need these details if you need to prove you reported the change.

Give as much information about the change as you can. For example if your partner has moved out tell HMRC their name, when they moved and what their new address is.

If you've missed the 1-month deadline

It’s better to report a change late than not to report it at all.

Call the tax credits helpline as soon as you can. Make a note of the date and time you call - you might need to refer to it later.

You can report the change online on GOV.UK if you can’t call the helpline. It’s quicker to do this than writing a letter because HMRC will receive your change straight away.

You can still write to HMRC if you can’t tell them over the phone or online. Write ‘change of circumstance’ clearly at the top of the letter. Send it by Royal Mail Signed For and keep the receipt - you might need to prove when you posted it and when it arrived.

HMRC might make you pay a penalty of up to £300. You can ask them not to do this if you have a good reason for reporting the change late - for example if someone in your family was seriously ill. Explain why you didn’t report it before and ask them not to make you pay the penalty.

If HMRC still says you have to pay the penalty, you can ask them to reduce the amount you have to pay. Explain why you think they should do this - for example if you told them as soon as you realised.

You can also ask HMRC to let you pay the penalty in smaller amounts over a longer period of time.

Finding out how much you’ll get after the change

HMRC might ask you for more information so they can work out how much to pay you. This is called a ‘compliance check’. They'll send you a letter telling you:

• what information you need to send them

• when you need to send it by

It’s important to send HMRC the information they’re asking for - if you don’t, they might stop your tax credits. Call the tax credits helpline if there’s anything you can’t send them.

When HMRC has got the information they need they’ll write to you to explain how your tax credits will change. Look out for the letter - this confirms they’ve recorded your change of circumstance and will be paying you the right amount of tax credits.

Check the letter to make sure HMRC has recorded the right change of circumstance. You’ll need to tell them within 1 month after the date on the letter if they’ve made a mistake. You can ask your nearest Citizens Advice if you’re not sure the letter’s right.

If you don’t get a letter from HMRC in 30 days

Call the tax credits helpline to check that HMRC have recorded your change of circumstance. You’ll need details of what the change was and when you told them about it - for example proof of postage if you sent a letter.

Try to save the extra tax credits if you think HMRC might be paying you too much. This will make it easier to pay it back if HMRC tells you to.

Your nearest Citizens Advice can help if you’re having trouble reporting a change of circumstance.