Tax credits

Tax credits are a means tested benefit which is available to individuals and couples who are:

• in paid work without children,
• in paid work and responsible for children or young people
• not working but are responsible for children or young people

It has three components, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit and Childcare. Parents of young people can claim Child Tax Credit for the young person up to their 20^th birthday, so long as they remain in non-advanced education or approved training. For a list of current and recent tax credits rates on the HMRC website, please click here: Tax Credits rates.

Tax credits are administered by HM Revenue and Customs. For complete information about Tax Credits see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/

If you have a problem with tax credits, such as dealing with an overpayment, please see the TaxAid Guide to dealing with Tax Credits Problems.The following pages should help answer questions you may still have after reading the HMRC website tax credits information.

If you need more help or advice about Tax Credits, Citizens Advices’ Adviceguide gives lots of information on Working Tax Credit (http://www.adviceguide.org.uk) and your local Citizens Advice Bureau (http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/cabdir.ihtml) can help with completing Tax Credit forms and give advice with any problems you face.