Working Tax Credit Contact Number for All Enquiries
Working Tax Credit is a government benefit that is intended to help those on lower incomes in the United Kingdom. If you are 25 years of age or older, you could qualify for this benefit whether or not you currently have any children but if you are under 25, you will only be eligible to make a claim if you already have one or more children who depend on you. There are other conditions that you will need to meet in order to qualify for this benefit, most of which are covered in detail below. However, the fastest way to find out whether you are able to make a claim is to call the Working Tax Credit contact number on 0843 506 0434. You can call any time between 8am and 8pm Monday to Fridays or from 8am to 4pm on Saturdays and get the help that you need.
UK Claimants: A Short Guide
Best estimates indicate that more than 7 million people in the UK are eligible for Working Tax Credit yet only around 4.5 million claim tax credits of any kind. With this in mind, there is a very good chance that you may be entitled to make a claim if you have not already done so. While there are online tax credit calculators that can be used to work out roughly how much you could receive once your claim has been processed, the easiest way to find out exactly what you are entitled to is to call the Working Tax Credits helpline during the above mentioned hours and speak to a government official who is in possession of all the relevant facts. In order to qualify for this benefit, you need to meet the following basic conditions:
- Be Working for a Certain Number of Hours Every Week
- Be Paid for the Work That You Do
- Have an Income Below a Certain Threshold
The number of hours you need to be working depends on your age and the income threshold is dependent on certain factors such as whether you are single or living with a partner and whether you have any children. The amount to which you are entitled will be calculated by benefit administration officers once they have all the necessary details concerning your personal circumstances. They will need to know how much you earned in the previous tax year, your age, the age of any children you may have, and your current living arrangements. There may be other facts that they require in order to accurately calculate your entitlement so be ready to answer any reasonable questions about your personal and financial circumstances when you call the Working Tax Credits telephone number.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you want to make sure that you have the latest information it is, of course, always best to go directly to the source, i.e. to call the Tax Credits Office, and ask them for the facts that you require. However, if you are not able to make a call right now and are looking for some answers to the questions you have, you may well find them in this section. Here, we have gathered together some of the most frequently asked questions about Working Tax Credit in the UK along with the answers you are likely to receive should you ask any of them when calling the Tax Credits Office.
- How Much Can I Earn While Claiming Working Tax Credit? – The first thing that most people want to know is how much they are allowed to earn before they become ineligible for this benefit. As stated earlier, there is not always a straightforward answer to this question because it depends on a number of factors but as a guideline, a single person without children can earn up to £13,100 a year at the time of writing while a couple without children may have a joint income of up to £18,000. If you have children, these figures will be higher.
- How Do I Make a Claim? – In order to be assessed for tax credits, you need to complete a claim form. You can obtain one online by visiting the official government website or by calling the Working Tax Credit contact number and providing them with your home address so that they can send one to you in the post. It is important to make sure that the information you fill in on the form is accurate so that your claim can be properly assessed without any unnecessary delays.
- What Information Will I Be Asked for if I Call to Discuss a New Claim? – If you are planning to call the Working Tax Credits helpline with a view to finding out whether you are eligible for this benefit and how much you are likely to receive if this is indeed the case, there are a few details you are likely to be asked to provide. These will normally include your National Insurance number and your income for the last financial year, along with details of any benefits you currently receive and any childcare payments you make.
- When Can I Make a Claim? – You can make a claim at any time, presuming you are already working. If you are currently unemployed but have been offered a job, you can start the claim process a week before you are due to start work, or any time after this date.
- How Long Before I Receive My First Payment? – If you are eligible and you make a new claim, you should allow as long as 5 weeks for it to be processed. Payments for approved claims are made either every week or every 4 weeks so to be on the safe side, you may want to assume that it will be 6 weeks before you receive your first payment. However, it is quite possible that it could be sooner than this; if you are particularly worried about when exactly your first payment will come through, you should discuss this matter with the relevant department at the Tax Credits Office.
- Will I Still Receive Payments if I Stop Working? – If you stop working permanently, then the short answer to this question is no, you will not be able to continue to receive Working Tax Credit. However, if you lose your job, you will still receive your payments for the following 4 weeks. If you take maternity, paternity or adoption leave, you will still be paid for up to 39 weeks. If you stop work due to illness, you will continue to receive payments for up to 28 weeks. If you stop working for any other reason, you can call the Working Tax Credits telephone number to find out whether you are still eligible for payments and, if so, for how long.
- Can I Claim Working Tax Credit if I Am Self-Employed? – Yes, if you are working on a regular basis, for commercial gain, it is possible to claim tax credits when you are self-employed. However, if your earnings for a certain period are less than predicted, HMRC, who administer the Working Tax Credit system, may request business records and plans to check that you are working the required number of hours per week to qualify for this benefit, which brings us to the next question.
- How Many Hours a Week Must I Be Working? – The minimum number of hours a week you need to be working in order to qualify for Working tax Credit depends on your age. If you do not have any children, you need to be 25 or over to claim and, this being the case, you will need to be working at least 30 hours a week if you are under 60. Those who are 60 or over need to be working at least 16 hours a week to qualify.
Using the Working Tax Credit Contact Number
As with any other government department that deals with a large number of queries on a daily basis, the Tax Credits Office’s telephone lines can be very busy at certain times. For this reason, it is worth making plans to call at a different time of the day or week if you are not successful at your first attempt. Having said that, it is an efficient department so you should not experience too many difficulties in getting through whenever you decide to call. If you do not want to wait too long for your call to be answered it is a good idea to avoid times when lines are likely to be at their busiest, such as from midday to 2pm during the week when many working people take their lunch breaks.
If you are still not sure what to say when you make your call, just explain your reason for calling and ask what details you must provide in order to get the information you need. If necessary, you can always take notes and call back later.