HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is urging parents to check their income to avoid potentially missing out on an average of £495 a year
Many claimants who receive statutory maternity pay do not realise that some of this pay should be deducted from their gross pay when their tax credits awards are calculated.
Parents can deduct any payments they have received for statutory paternity, shared parental or adoption pay up to a value of £100 a week.
HMRC has estimated that around 35,000 people could be affected and are at risk to miss out on the additional amount each year. Parents need to make sure they renew their claim before the 31 July deadline.
Parents can now log into GOV.UK to check the progress of their renewal so they can be reassured it’s being worked on and know when they’ll hear back from HMRC.
Tax credits help working families with targeted support and more than 65,000 customers this year have already used the app to renew their tax credits, compared to 38,411 customers in 2017.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said: “We want to make sure all our customers get all the help they’re entitled to when they renew their tax credits.
“As the 31 July deadline for tax credits renewals approaches, we want to ensure nobody misses out. That’s why we’re urging parents to make sure they remember to deduct payments for statutory maternity pay, paternity pay, and adoption pay.”
Failure to renew before the deadline will mean payments are stopped and customers may have to repay the money they have received since April.
Online help and information on renewing tax credits is available on GOV.UKand via HMRC’s customer service Twitter feed @HMRCcustomers. Support is also available on the tax credits helpline.
