HMRC has announced an extension to the Tax Credits deadline which will give claimants extra time to renew their Tax Credits.
Claimants who missed the statutory deadline of 31 July must ensure that their claim is renewed by 10pm on Wednesday 6 August 2014 otherwise their claim could stop and Tax Credits may have been overpaid.
This is an extension to take account of disruption caused by the industrial action which took place on 30 and 31 July and 1 August by the Public and Commercial Services Union.
Claimants may experience lengthy delays when renewing by telephone even though HMRC is deploying as many people as possible to answer the phones.
Alternative methods to renew can be used. These include online at www.gov.uk/renewtaxcredits, by returning the paper form or by using HMRC’s Intelligent Telephony Automation (ITA) service, which uses speech recognition technology to capture customers’ renewals. Customers can access ITA by ringing the Tax Credits helpline number – 0345 300 3900 – and saying ‘Renewals’ when prompted.
