Tax credit claimants are reminded today by tax credit claimants have one week to renew their tax credit claims before the 31 July deadline, or your payments will stop.
Clamping down on tax credit applications and cheats
As part of a clampdown on tax credit error and fraud, HMRC is examining claims very closely this year. The focus is on claimants’ statements on employment, self-employment, hours worked, childcare and children as well as any details that have changed since previous years’ claims.
You must let HMRC know of any changes in your circumstances that they haven’t already reported during the year. These could be changes in your working hours, childcare costs or pay.
Help and information on tax credit renewals can be obtained from HMRC’s website (see ‘Help and advice’ section at the end of this post).
Free online videos to help you get the details right
If this is your first time renewing tax credits and are unsure or confused about the process, HMRC has published a series of online videos to help you through the renewal process.
The videos cover key areas such as:
checking the accuracy of the information in your renewals pack
notifying HMRC of any changes in your circumstances if you haven’t already reported during the year; and
providing details of your previous year’s income.
The videos are available – as well as other help and information on tax credit renewals – from www.direct.gov.uk/renewyourtaxcredits.
Watch out for email scams
Like with scam bank emails, you also need to be careful of emails about your tax credits. HMRC says there has been a surge of fake “phishing†emails sent out by fraudsters in the run-up to the tax credits renewal deadline.
Emails will tell you that you are due a tax rebate, and provide a link to a cloned replica of the HMRC website, where you’ll be asked to provide credit or debit card details. If you enter these, the fraudsters will then try to take money from their accounts.
HMRC has made it clear that the department currently only ever contacts customers who are due a tax refund in writing – by post. It does not use telephone calls, emails or external companies to do this, so if you receive an email claiming to be from HMRC, send it to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk before deleting it.
Help and advice
For more information, call the tax credits helpline: 0845 300 3900.
Further tax credit renewals information can be found at www.direct.gov.uk/renewyourtaxcredits.