Tax credits news
New Tax Credit Helpline number
HMRC have announced a new number for the Tax Credit Helpline:
- 0345 300 3900
- 0345 300 3909 (textphone for hearing or speech impaired)
The change to an 0345 number means that calls are still not free, but costs should be reduced for callers, especially from mobile phones. Calls are generally charged at the local rate, and may be included in some free weekend or evening call packages. It will also still be possible to get through on the old number 0845 300 3900 (textphone 0845 300 3909) for the next 18 months. The advisers and intermediaries line remains 0845 300 3946.
The Tax Credit Helpline is open 8.00am to 8.00pm, Monday to Friday and 8.00am to 4.00pm on Saturdays.
Bulk order of tax credit claim packs
HMRC intends to discontinue the bulk supply of tax credit claim packs to organisations on its ‘trusted user’ list, such as local authorities and independent advice agencies, and instead will only issue blank claim packs to Citizens Advice. Claimants will have to request a claim pack from the Tax Credits Helpline, or other advisers may do so with the claimant’s consent and basic information. Concerns about this proposal have been raised at the Benefits & Credits Consultation Group meeting, as follows:
- The time it can take to get a claim pack from the Helpline will affect backdating (especially as backdating is being cut from three months to one month from April 2012).
- Some customers struggle to use the Helpline and some vulnerable customers may lose out as it is difficult to get them to attend a second interview with an advice agency once they have their pack.
- The Helpline could refuse to issue a claim pack. HMRC said this was not the case; if a customer insists on receiving a claim pack the Helpline will send one.
Read the Consultation Group minutes here
Consolidated tax credit legislation
A complete set of tax credits regulations, including up to date amendments, is now available in the tax credits legislation and case law section of http://www.revenuebenefits.org.uk/. A range of other valuable information is also available on this website, including links to our own tax credit e-bulletins and factsheets.
View the legislation here
Q&A: Will the planned ‘benefit cap’ apply to tax credits?
A: Yes and no. The Welfare Reform Bill, currently before Parliament, contains a provision to introduce a limit to the total amount of benefits someone can receive, to be implemented from April 2013. Child tax credit (CTC) will be included in the total amount, but families entitled to working tax credit will be exempt. The cap will be set at average net earnings, projected to be around £26,000 a year (£500 a week), and will also include child benefit, income support, jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance and housing benefit. Households where an adult or child is in receipt of disability living allowance will be exempt, as will war widows/widowers. It is not clear how the exemption for working families will operate, especially when universal credit replaces working tax credit from October 2014. But the government has indicated that the same hours rules will be used, so lone parents would have to be working 16 hours a week, and couples with children 24 hours a week to be exempt from the cap. As housing benefit is already subject to caps, it is primarily larger families who will suffer from this particular measure.
Example (April 2012 rates)
An unemployed family with five children, will receive approximately:
£111.45 jobseeker’s allowance
£10.50 CTC family element
£51.74 x 5 CTC child elements
£73.90 child benefit
= £454.55 a week.
The benefit cap, at £500 a week, would leave them looking for somewhere to live for £55.45 a week.
The comparison between families ‘on benefits’ and ‘working families’ also misses the fact that a working family with five children on £26,000 a year would receive a substantial amount in tax credits and child benefit, and possibly housing benefit. The plan was first announced in a Treasury statement in October 2010, and has gained a lot of media attention recently as Lords have attempted to make changes to reduce the effects, such as excluding child benefit from the cap, and bringing in transitional protection or a time limit for people who have lost their jobs.
Go to CPAG’s website for more information
