11 February 2013

Acting on behalf of someone else – tax credits and Child Benefit

An intermediary can deal with HMRC on behalf of someone else to help them fill in forms, talk to HMRC for them, answer questions and help in all aspects of the process of making and renewing claims, dealing with payments, overpayments and appeals.

Anyone can act as an intermediary such as a friend, relative, voluntary organisation or someone who is able to translate, for instance where English is not the first language. An intermediary cannot receive paymentof tax credits from HMRC on behalf of the claimant and does not have the same status as an appointee or agent. More information can be found here

The claimant needs to authorise someone to act as an intermediary. To do this, HMRC have a form TC689 which should be completed, signed and returned to HMRC before they are allowed to discuss the claimant’s affairs with anyone else.

HMRC allow organisations who deal with tax credits and child benefit on a regular basis to register with them as an intermediary organisation. Registering allows the intermediary organisation to send individual customer consent forms to HMRC via a quicker route on-line. (They can also be faxed to HMRC, but this option is sometimes unavailable and currently expected to be withdrawn from March 2013). More information about this can be found here

All authorised intermediaries can use the Intermediaries helpline, which is separate from the main Helplines and staff there are generally more experienced at dealing with problematic cases.

For tax credits, the Intermediaries helpline number is 0845 300 3946; the Child Benefit Intermediaries helpline number is 0845 302 1411, and lines are open 9am to 5pm, Monday-Friday.

Information about acting on behalf of someone else can be found here