Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit elements are added together if you are eligible for both.

The Child Tax Credit elements are:

• Family element (one per family), but only if you are responsible for a child or qualifying young person born before 6 April 2017
• Individual child element (paid for each child or qualifying young person), but usually not for a third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017
• Disability element for each child or qualifying young person on Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment (paid in addition to the child element)
• Severely disabled element for each child or qualifying young person on the highest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance or the enhanced daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (paid in addition to the child element)

The Working Tax Credit elements are:

• Basic element (one per single person or couple), this is always included if you or your partner are eligible for Working Tax Credit.
• Couple element (paid in addition to the basic element but only one couple element allowed per couple), this is included if you live with a partner or if you are married/in a civil partnership.
• Lone parent element (paid in addition to the basic element), this is included if you live alone with dependent children/young people.
• 30 hour element (paid in addition to other elements), this is included if you or your partner work 30 hours or more (for claimants without children), or you have children and your combined hours are at least 30 per week (as long as one partner is working at least 16 hours per week)
• Disability worker element (paid in addition to other elements), this is included for each disabled adult who works at least 16 hours a week; certain conditions have to be met to count as disabled.
• Severe disability element (paid in addition to other elements), this is included for each adult who gets the highest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance, the enhanced daily living component of Personal Independence Payment, the higher rate of Attendance Allowance, or Armed Forces Independence Payment.
• Childcare element, this is included if you meet the conditions.

Once you have added up all of the ‘elements’ that apply, you will reach your ‘maximum Tax Credits amount’.

There is information on our website about the rates of the Tax Credit elements.  If there are changes to your circumstances and this affects your tax credit elements, you should let HMRC know.

If you are on Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Pension Credit, you will get the maximum Child Tax Credit for your circumstances.

There are different income limits for each type of Tax Credit. If you exceed the limit, then you will be paid
less in Tax Credits.

Your initial award is always based on your income in the previous tax year (e.g. 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024), but it can be finalised or revised based on the current tax year, depending on what has happened to your income. If you are eligible for Child Tax Credit only, you can have income of up to £19,995 (2024/25) before the maximum award is reduced.  If you are eligible for (but not necessarily receiving) Working Tax Credit, on its own or with Child Tax Credit, the award starts being reduced once your income is more than £7,955 per year (2024/25). Your income always includes the income of a partner you live with. These income thresholds were different in previous tax years.

If you earn above the threshold that applies to you, you lose 41p of Tax Credits for every £1 of income you earn over the limit. For example, someone who is eligible for Working Tax Credit and had income of £7,956 in the tax year on which their award was based, would get their maximum award less 41p. When your Tax Credits are reduced, you lose the main elements of Working Tax Credit first, then the childcare element of Working Tax Credit, and finally the child and disabled child elements of Child Tax Credit if applicable. Your Tax Credits carry on being reduced by all your income over £7,955 or £19,995, so families on relatively low incomes may still end up with a nil award of Tax Credits. How high your income can be before you lose all your Tax Credits depends on the elements which apply to you. There is no one cut-off point.

You can also use any of the benefits calculators to check your entitlement, but remember this is likely to vary from what you actually get as HMRC try to pay you what you are entitled to over the tax year.

The Tax Credit system works out an award which covers a period of up to one year long. You will normally be paid every four weeks or every week. You should tell HMRC which pay period you would like, otherwise you will automatically be paid every four weeks. The Tax Credit Office spreads out your award over what is left of the tax year. This means that you may not be paid the same every time.

If your income goes up, compared to the previous tax year, or compared to an estimate you have already given HMRC, it is very important to tell HMRC to avoid being overpaid. If it goes down, you can give HMRC an estimate, but you will only get more Tax Credits if you expect to earn at least £2,500 less than the previous tax year. You should also be really careful not to give too low an estimate, otherwise you will be overpaid. It’s a good idea to keep checking your estimate during the year, and let HMRC know immediately if you realise you’re going to earn more than you expected.

If your circumstances change so that the maximum Tax Credits you’re entitled to is different, you should let HMRC know as soon as possible. If something happens which might increase your maximum Tax Credits, this can only be backdated by one month. For example, you should let them know within one month if you have another child (even if you already have two children, it’s a good idea to tell them), or if you start working more hours and would be entitled to Working Tax Credit on top of your Child Tax Credit and/or the 30-hour element. If your maximum Tax Credit increases because you are awarded disability benefit such as DLA for a child, or PIP for an adult, you can ask for longer backdating, to the date the disability benefit goes back to.

If something happens which would reduce your maximum Tax Credit, such as a child leaving your household, you should tell them within one month and make sure they do change your award (to avoid being overpaid). This also applies if you stop paying for childcare, or your childcare costs decrease by at least £10 a week for at least four weeks. If a change happens because you, your partner or a child are awarded a disability benefit such as DLA for a child, or PIP for an adult, you can ask for longer backdating.

Some changes end your Tax Credits award completely. This can happen if you claim Universal Credit, or if you apply for Tax-Free Childcare, so be careful about doing this. Your Tax Credits award also ends if your couple/single status changes. Usually, you cannot reclaim Tax Credits and would have to claim Universal Credit when this happens.

Changes which end or decrease your maximum entitlement have to be reported. Failure to do so can lead not just to you being overpaid, but in some cases to being fined a penalty. See our page on changes of circumstances in Tax Credits for more information. You can also find further advice on from the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group.

After the end of the tax year (5th April each year) your Tax Credit claim is finalised. It is important to respond to any requests for information you receive in order to make sure you are not overpaid. Usually this process also forms your claim for Tax Credits for the new tax year.

Unfortunately, because of the way Tax Credits are worked out, overpayments can happen for lots of reasons (even if you told HMRC about all relevant changes when they occurred). You can find out more about overpayments, and how to deal with them, from the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group , and there is also a useful factsheet about this problem from Advice Now.

If the rate of your Tax Credits changes for any reason, they count as income for other benefits, for example, Housing Benefit. So it is important to tell the local authority (council) about changes in your Tax Credits.

If you are moving to Universal Credit, your Tax Credit award stops the day before your Universal Credit starts. You will get a letter from HMRC asking you to finalise your Tax Credit award based on your circumstances and income for the part of the tax year up until your Universal Credit award starts.