HMRC advises 1m Tax Credit Renewal Packs are incomplete
On 18 June, HMRC provided us with the following information about problems with a large number of recently issued tax credits renewal packs which do not contain all the necessary information regarding the claim – although the tax credit payments themselves should still be correct.
“Tax credits renewals
We recently told you that HMRC will automatically renew all tax credits claims this year, apart from those identified as high risk. This means that the majority of customers will have their claim automatically renewed.
What has happened and who is affected
Due to an error, we sent around 1 million customers a tax credits renewal pack (TC603R) that did not include some or all of the income information that we used to calculate their awards.
We are sorry for this omission and for any inconvenience we have caused. We would like to reassure you and your customers that the tax credits payments made since the start of April are correct and based on the information we hold and would normally use at this stage in the tax credits cycle to make provisional payments and renew awards.
This affects the renewals process for tax credits claimants with self-employed income, income from taxable social security benefits, or other income (for instance, income from shares and dividends).
How we’re giving claimants what they need
From 25 June 2020, we’ll be writing to those who are affected by this, setting out all the information they need.
This will be accompanied by other communications, including a message on GOV.UK and a text message to some customers to give them the opportunity to contact us in advance of receiving the letter.
What claimants need to do
To make sure we have paid the correct amount for the award period of 06/04/2019 to 05/04/2020, we need customers to review the total household income we hold for them for the 2019-2020 tax year.
In addition, self-employed customers who have not declared their tax return for the 2019/2020 tax year must estimate their profit or loss and report this with their renewal online or via our webchat service by 31 July 2020. Otherwise, we will finalise their award using the information we hold, and they will not be able to change it at a later date.
If the income details are correct or customers have already contacted us about their income and a self-employed estimate does not need to be given, they don’t need to do anything.
However, they will need to contact us straight away if they disagree with any of the information in the letters or they need to tell us about any changes.
Customers should report changes by completing their renewal:
online, at gov.uk/manage-your-tax-credits,
or through our webchat service by searching ‘tax credits general enquiries’ on gov.uk.”