• To be entitled to tax credits, you must claim them. There is no entitlement without a claim. Claims are made using paper form TC600. Previously it was possible to claim online, however the online claims facility is currently closed. It is not expected to reopen until at the summer of 2008 at the earliest. In the meantime to get a claim form you need to contact the Tax Credits helpline on 0845 300 3900.



• It is standard procedure for the Tax Credits helpline to ask for your name, address and National Insurance number when you request a claim form. However, you should not be refused a claim form if you do not have a national insurance number, nor for any other reason.



• To find out whether you are eligible to claim tax credits, see Who can claim?.

Backdating

• You can backdate a claim to tax credits if the circumstances entitling you to tax credits have subsisted for the period of the backdating. But a claim may generally only be backdated by a maximum of three months.



• Awards of child tax credit are supposed to be backdated automatically by the HMRC computer to the date of birth of the child, or by three months, whichever gives the shorter period.



• Awards of working tax credit are not backdated automatically and you must specifically ask for backdating to the date of starting work (if that is within three months before the claim). It is understood, however, that if you are entitled to WTC and CTC you will get the equivalent backdating for WTC (even though it is not always the case that it is due!) This is done because the entitlement to CTC may have established the entitlement to WTC; the claimant may be less than 25 years old.

Backdating by more than three months

• There are two situations in which it is possible to get backdating of more than 3 months:

  • Backdating for those obtaining refugee status
  • Backdating of disability elements



• Refugee status

  If a person has claimed asylum as a refugee and is then awarded refugee status, providing they apply for tax credits within 3 months of receiving notification of that refugee status, they will be treated as if they made their tax credits claim from the original date they claimed asylum.

  Example 1

  Faizah claimed asylum as a refugee on 12th May 2006 and was granted refugee status on 10th April 2008. She applies for tax credits on 20th May 2008 (within 3 months). The claim for tax credits is treated as being made on the date she claimed asylum (12th May 2006).

  Example 2

  Zabia claimed asylum as a refugee on 28th September 2006 and was granted refugee status on 10th April 2008. She applies for tax credits on 29th July 2008 (more than 3 months after notification of her refugee status). Her tax credits are backdated only 3 months from the date she applied.

• It is important to note that any backdated amount due will be reduced by any support received under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (such as NASS payments) unless any DWP backdating has already been reduced to take these payments into account.

• Disability elements

  Backdating is also possible by more than 3 months where entitlement to one of the disability elements is dependent upon an award of a qualifying benefit.

  When you apply for tax credits, HMRC ask you to attach a letter to the claim form if you have applied for one of the qualifying benefits but have not yet received a decision. Providing you then notify HMRC within 3 months of the award of that qualifying benefit, you should receive backdating to the date from which the disability benefit was awarded or from the date of claim ? whichever is the later.

  If you have an ongoing tax credits award, you must notify HMRC when you apply for the qualifying benefit and then again within 3 months of it being awarded in order to receive backdating of more than 3 months.

  Example

  Sandra is claiming tax credits. She applies for Disability Living Allowance for her daughter Amy in April 2007. If awarded then Sandra will be entitled to have the child disability element included in her claim. Unfortunately the Disability Living Allowance decision takes 6 months and Amy does not receive notification of her higher rate mobility award until October 2007.

  Providing that Sandra notified HMRC that she claimed Disability Living Allowance in April 2007, and again notified them within 3 months of the award in October 2007, Sandra will receive backdating of the Disability element to April 2007.

  However if Sandra failed to notify HMRC that she had applied for Disability Living Allowance for Amy in April 2007, she would only be able to claim 3 months backdating from October 2007.

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