How to Claim Child Tax Credit?
The child tax credit is the financial help for low-income individuals in the UK to meet the expenses of raising their children.
How much credit you can get for your child tax credit depends on several factors including the number of children living with you, annual income, the time of the birth of the child, if your child is disabled etc. As the main carer of a child, you can get potential help to meet the upbringing costs with the child tax credit.
Herein is a short guide for your help to know some important facts before you make a child tax credit claim in UK.
About the Child Tax Credit Claim in UK
The child tax credit is a monetary aid to the main carer of the child to meet the expenses on the raising, education and others. The monetary aid that you will receive is available under different payment criteria termed as ‘elements’.
To qualify for filing a claim, you must meet several conditions including:
• The carer must be at least 16 years old
• The child should be below the age of 16 years
• The child aged 16-20 years can get the financial support under this provision if he/she is attaining full-time education or training without any pay
How Much Child Tax Credit does the Qualifying Applicant Get
The amount for child tax credit finalized for the 2017-18 tax year is as follows:
• Child element of up to £2,780 in a year
• For disabled children only, the disabled child element for one child is up to £3,175 in a year (this amount is available in addition to the child element)
• For children with several disability, the carer can get the severely disabled child element of up to £1,290 for one year (the amount is given in addition with the disability element and the child element)
How to Make a Child Tax Credit Claim
You can file your tax credit claims at the gov.uk website.
• Visit the link https://www.gov.uk/qualify-tax-credits
• On the page, you will get detailed information on filing tax credit claims in the UK. Read the information carefully to understand the claim process and other details
• If you feel that you are eligible to apply for the claim, click the ‘Start Now’ green tab at the bottom of the page
• You will have to answer a series of 4 questions successfully to get your online claim form
• Once you have answered all the questions correctly, you will get the information including the link to the HMRC online claim form where you can fill the details of your child tax credit claim
Once you file the claim, it can take up to 5 weeks for the authorities to give the tax credit approval.
Things to Remember Before You Make a Child Tax Credit Claim in UK
• You do not have to be the parent of the child for whom you are filing the claim
• People already covered by the Universal Credit claim are not eligible to apply for this financial aid
• Children above the age of 16 or 17 years are not eligible for the claim if they are covered by the employment support allowance, incapacity benefits etc
• The child tax credit is allotted for one child per household
• You must provide all the details correctly when filing the claim. In case, you provide wrong information, it can end up in penalty imposition of up to £3000.
Some Parting Words,
The net amount you can get as the child tax credit is divided into several provisions called ‘elements’. The extent of financial coverage the eligible carer receives depends on several determinant factors (the amount is not same for all applicants).
To get an idea of the money you can get, use the Benefit Calculator tool at the gov.uk website. Read more articles on wink24news.