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Common reasons why payments change

The most common reasons why your payments may have gone down or stopped are:

• a child reaches 16, but you haven't told the Tax Credit Office that they're staying in full-time education or approved training
• your award notice shows you have been overpaid
• you have changed your bank, building society or Post Office® card account details and haven’t told the Tax Credit Office
• you have changed address and haven't told the Tax Credit Office
• you have not provided the Tax Credit Office with any bank account details
• you haven't renewed your tax credits claim
• your income is too high to get tax credits from 6 April 2011
• you were getting the extra payment for having a baby under the age of one, which stopped from 6 April 2011
• your income has gone up by more than £10,000, and so your tax credit payments have gone down
  

The reasons are explained in more detail below.

A child reaches 16

If your child is now over the age of 16, your Child Tax Credit payments for them may have stopped. This could be because the Tax Credit Office didn't know your child was staying on in full-time education (or on an approved training course). It's very important to tell the Tax Credit Office about your child's plans. If you don't do anything, your payments for that child will automatically stop on 31 August after their sixteenth birthday.

• Your child reaches 16 - can you still get Child Tax Credit?

Your award notice shows you have been overpaid

You'll get an award notice if your tax credits payments change. This may say that your payments are going down because the Tax Credit Office has paid you too much. This could happen if you haven't told them about a change in circumstance, or your income has gone up. If your payments have stopped because you no longer qualify for tax credits, the Tax Credit Office will ask you to make a direct payment to pay back any outstanding overpayment.

• How overpayments of tax credits can happen

• Repaying overpaid tax credits

You have changed your bank account

If you have changed your bank, building society or Post Office® card account details recently and haven't told the Tax Credit Office, then your payment will have been sent to your old account. You’ll need to tell the Tax Credit Office your new account details as soon as possible. This will make sure that future payments are paid to your correct account.

• Tax credits: changes you need to report and when

You have changed address

If the Tax Credit Office can't contact you at the address they hold, they may stop your tax credits payments. So if you move you need to let them know your new address in good time.

• Find out which changes in circumstances you need to report and by when

You haven’t provided bank account details when asked

If you have been getting your tax credits paid by cash cheque, your payments may stop if you haven’t given the Tax Credit Office your bank, building society, or Post Office® card account details. This could happen eight weeks after the date the Tax Credit Office asked you for this information.

If you don’t already have an account, you must open one and provide the details to the Tax Credit Office. 

• More about bank accounts and how tax credits are paid

You haven't renewed your tax credits

The Tax Credit Office will ask you to renew your tax credits after the end of each tax year. They can then make sure you have been paid the right amount of tax credits for the previous tax year. They will also check they are paying you the right amount for the current tax year.

The Tax Credit Office send you a renewal pack, which you must usually complete by 31 July. If you don't renew your tax credits, your payments will stop. You may have to pay back any payments you have received since 6 April as well as any overpayments.

• Why your tax credits claim has to be renewed

Your income is too high to get tax credits from 6 April 2011

If you get Child Tax Credit, your tax credits payments may have stopped from 6 April 2011 because of changes to income limits announced in the June 2010 Budget. These limits are the amount of total income you can have before your tax credits payments start to be reduced or stop altogether.

For the last tax year (6 April 2010 to 5 April 2011), if your total income was under £50,000 your basic Child Tax Credit payments would not be reduced. But from 6 April 2011, this limit dropped to £40,000. So if your income is likely to be over this amount from that date your payments will be affected.

The Tax Credit Office will use your latest income details to work out your new payments. Report any changes to the Tax Credit Helpline as soon as possible, especially if:

• your income has gone down
• your total income is likely to be less than £40,000 from 6 April 2011
• your circumstances have changed and you think you should still get tax credits
  

• How to work out your total income

• Find out which changes in circumstance you need to report and by when

Payment for babies under the age of one stopped from 6 April 2011

The extra payment for having a baby under the age of one (known as the 'baby addition') stopped from 6 April 2011. This is because of changes announced in the June 2010 Budget. So if all your other circumstances have stayed the same, your payments will have gone down from that date.

• Find out which changes in circumstance you need to report and by when

The amount of help towards childcare costs has gone down

The amount of help you can get with your childcare costs dropped from 80 per cent to 70 per cent from 6 April 2011. The most you can claim for each week is £175 for one child and £300 for two or more children.

This means that the maximum help you can get through tax credits for your childcare is now:

• £122.50 a week for one child
• £210 a week for two or more children

This change could have reduced your tax credits payments.

• Help with childcare costs - do you qualify for extra tax credits?

Your income has gone up by more than £10,000

If your income is expected to be more than £10,000 higher than last year, you may get less tax credits.

If your income is expected to be less than £10,000 higher than last year, it will make no difference to the amount of tax credits you’ll receive for the current year. However it's still a good idea to let the Tax Credit Office know about the change. The increased income will be taken into account:

• in the following year
• for the payments made to you after April, but before you have renewed your claim
  

If you don't tell them about a change in income:

• you may not get all the money you are entitled to
• you could be building up an overpayment that you’ll have to pay back
  

• Changes in income and tax credits

How to keep the Tax Credit Office up to date

You can report any changes to the Tax Credit Helpline.

• Contact details for the Tax Credit Helpline

More useful links

• Check if you qualify for tax credits - quick questionnaire

• How your tax credits entitlement is worked out

• How to avoid being paid too much or not enough tax credits

• Checking your tax credits award notice

Useful contacts

• Tax Credit Helpline - contact details