21 January 2019

Tax Credit claim forms

HMRC have confirmed to us that they are no longer issuing any paper tax credit claim forms and that the on-line claim form order facility has been withdrawn.

Now that Universal Credit (UC) is fully rolled out, most people can no longer make a new claim for tax credits and instead must claim UC. However, there are some exceptions to that general rule for the time being -  people who receive a severe disability premium (or have recently received) in certain means-tested benefits, those who have 3 or more children (until 1 February 2019) and those who have reached their state pension credit qualifying age. There is more information about who can claim tax credits in our Tax Credits and UC section.

Claimants who meet the exception critera and want to make a new claim for tax credits must contact HMRC's tax credits helpline and the tax credit claim will be handled by telephone. HMRC have confirmed that for people who are unable to ring the helpline directly, they will continue to provide the Next Generation Text Service if they are deaf, hearing-impaired or have a speech impairment and there is HMRC's NES (Needs Enhanced Support) team who are able to arrange to deal with customers through face-to-face contact.

We will update the website with more details about claiming by telephone (including alternative arrangements) as soon as more details are available.