Child Tax Credit
You could get Child Tax Credit for each child you’re responsible for if they’re:
- Under 16 - you can claim up until the 31st August after their 16th birthday.
- Under 20 - if they’re in approved education or training.
- You don’t need to be working to claim Child Tax Credit.
- You get money for each child that qualifies and Child Tax Credit won’t affect your Child Benefit.
- How much you get depends on your circumstances - you can use the Tax Credit Calculator to work this out.
Only one household can get Child Tax Credit for a child. If you share responsibility for a child and you can’t agree who should claim you can both apply. The Tax Credit Office will decide for you.
All benefits, pensions and allowances are paid into an account (eg a bank account) of the person mainly responsible for the child.
You’re paid every week or every 4 weeks from the date of your claim up to the end of the tax year (5 April), unless your circumstances change.
If your circumstances change, your tax credits can go up or down. If your family or work life change you must report these changes to the Tax Credit Office.
If you’re new to tax credits, call the Tax Credit Helpline for a claim form. It can take up to two weeks for the form to arrive.
If you’re already claiming tax credits you don’t need a claim form - call the helpline to update your claim.
You can claim at any time of the year and apply for Child and Working Tax Credits on the same claim form.
It can take up to five weeks to process a new claim.
You have to renew your claim once a year.
To support your claim, keep records of your income, bills, payslips, benefits, tax credits, childcare and your child’s education. Keep any records you have from the past three years.
TOP TIP: Photocopy or take pictures of all claims you send in, just in case there is a dispcrepancy and you have forgotten all the info from the previous year. Otherwise you may have to pay money back.