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The tax credits renewals deadline has now passed. But all is not lost if you missed the deadline, provided you take action quickly.

For the 2013/14 renewals cycle, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) extended the tax credits renewal deadline from the usual 31 July 2014 to 10pm on 6 August 2014 due to industrial action. This extended deadline has now passed and it is reported that some 455,000 people have failed to complete the renewals process.

Each year, tax credits claimants receive a renewal pack from HMRC. The renewals process does two things: it finalises the claim for the tax year that has just ended (2013/14) and it acts as a claim for the new tax year (2014/15). Claimants will have received either:

• an A4 White envelope – this is a reply required renewal which required the claimant to report their 2013/14 income to HMRC by 31 July (extended to 6 August), or
• an A5 Brown envelope – this is an auto-renewal which means that the claimant only needs to contact HMRC if something is wrong, missing or incomplete on the form. Otherwise, HMRC will renew the claim automatically.

Even if you no longer want to claim or think you are no longer entitled, if you claimed tax credits at all during the 2013/14 tax year you will still be included in the renewal exercise and will need to make sure you follow HMRC’s instructions to complete and finalise your claim for the 2013/14 tax year.

If you were required to contact HMRC and did not do so by 6 August 2014, either by returning the declaration and review forms by post, by contacting the helpline or by renewing online via GOV.UK, you will shortly receive from HMRC a ‘statement of account’ telling you that they have stopped your payments. In addition, HMRC will ask for all of the tax credits paid since the start of 2014/15 tax year (from 6 April 2014) to be repaid to them.

But as long as you contact HMRC within 60 days of the date on the statement of account, HMRC will process the renewal and reinstate your 2014/15 claim back to April. If you are self-employed and do not yet have final details for last year, you can give an estimate as long as you either confirm the estimate, or file accurate figures, by 31 January 2015.

Under tax credits legislation, HMRC only allow a period of 30 days to contact them after the statement of account, but for the last few years HMRC have extended this grace period to 60 days and we understand they will do the same again this year. Nevertheless, we urge everyone to contact HMRC within 30 days if possible.

If you miss the 60-day grace period, you can only renew and secure your entitlement for the whole of 2014/15, if you:

• have ‘good cause’ for your failure to renew so far, and
• complete your renewal by 31 January 2015.

If good cause does not apply, HMRC will ask you to repay all payments made to you from the start of the tax year, and you will need to make a new claim for tax credits which can only be backdated 31 days.

If you have missed the deadline, contact HMRC as soon as possible. Telephone the Tax Credits helpline on 0345 300 3900 (the Textphone number, for those with impaired hearing or speech, is 0345 300 3909).

You can find out more about the renewals process on the LITRG website.

Contact: Victoria Todd (please use form at http://www.litrg.org.uk/contact-us) or follow us on Twitter: @LITRGNews