Child Tax Credit

Are you eligible to apply for Child Tax Credit? You may be able to claim Child Tax Credit if you’re responsible for:

• children aged 16 or under (you can claim up until 31st August after their 16th birthday)
• children under 20 and in eligible education or training

You don’t need to be working to claim Child Tax Credit. Only one household can get Child Tax Credit for a child.

Child Tax Credit Phone Number

To call HMRC about Child Tax Credits use the following phone numbers:

• Child Tax Credit Telephone: 0345 300 3900
• Child Tax Credit Textphone: 0345 300 3909
• Phone Number Outside the UK +44 2890 538 192

The Child Tax Credit phone number opening times are:

• Monday to Friday: 8:00 am to 8:00 pm
• Saturday: 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
• Sunday: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

The phone numbers are closed on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. To avoid busy call times and long waits, the best times to call are usually Tuesday to Thursday between 8:30 am and 10:30 am, and 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
on Sundays.

How to claim Child Tax Credit

If you’re new to tax credits you’ll need to order a Child Tax Credit claim form.

It can take up to 2 weeks for the claim form to arrive and up to 5 weeks for new claims to be processed.

How much Child Tax Credit can I claim?

The amount of Child Tax Credit you can claim depends on how many children you have and whether you’re;

• making a new claim for Child Tax Credit
• already claiming Child Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit won’t affect your Child Benefit

You can only claim Child Tax Credit for children that you’re responsible for.

(There will be no change to the rights and status of EU nationals living in the UK, nor UK nationals living in the EU, while the UK remains in the EU).

Making a new Child Tax Credit claim

Child Tax Credit is in the process of being replaced by Universal Credit. However, you may still be able to claim Child Tax Credit if you don’t live in a Universal Credit area.

If you do live in a Universal Credit area, you may still be able to claim Child Tax Credit if:

• you have 3 or more children
• you or your partner have reached State Pension age

If you can’t make a new claim for Child Tax Credit, you’ll usually need to apply for Universal Credit instead.

How much Child Tax Credit can I claim?

The amount you could get depends on when your children were born.

If all your children were born before 6 April 2017

You could get the ‘child element’ of Child Tax Credit for all of your children.

You’ll also get the basic amount, known as the ‘family element’.

If one or more of your children were born on or after 6 April 2017

You could get the child element of Child Tax Credit for up to 2 children. You might get the child element for more children if exceptions apply.

You’ll only get the family element if at least one of your children was born before 6 April 2017.

Child Tax Credit Rates

Child Tax Credit rates for the 2017 to 2018 tax year.