In this section:
Appealing against a tax credit decision
If you’re not happy with a tax credits decision, you may have the right to appeal. You’ll normally have to appeal within 30 days of when the Tax Credit Office sent you their decision.
Before you appeal
There are a few steps you can take before appealing.
Call the Tax Credit Helpline
It's always worth trying to reach an agreement with the Tax Credit Office before making a formal appeal. This way, if they agree your award is wrong, they can make sure it's changed for you.
If you want to speak to someone about your tax credit award, call the Tax Credit Helpline on Tel 0845 400 3900 or textphone 0845 300 3909.
Get independent advice
If you want free independent advice, you can contact:
- the Citizens Advice Bureau
- your trade union
- the Community Legal Service
- TaxAid
You can also get advice from a solicitor or an accountant, but you'll have to pay for this.
Find your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau on their website
Visit the Community Legal Service website
How do you know if you can appeal
The decision notice the Tax Credit Office sent you will tell you if you can appeal against the decision.
You can appeal when:
- you think a decision is wrong
- your award doesn't take into account a change of circumstances
- your award is reduced or has stopped
- you don't agree with a penalty notice
- you've been charged interest
When you can't appeal
You can't appeal against a decision to ask you to pay back an overpayment. But you can appeal if you think the amount of tax credits you were awarded in the first place was wrong.
Other options if you can't appeal
- You have the right to dispute the overpayment if you think that the Tax Credit Office has made a mistake.
- You can ask the Tax Credit Office to look again at the repayments they've asked you to make if you are having difficulty making the payments.
You may want to contact an independent adviser, such as your accountant or Citizens Advice, to discuss your options.
How to dispute a tax credits overpayment
Difficulty repaying overpaid tax credits?
Who can appeal
Usually the person who made the claim or who’s been getting the tax credits makes the appeal. But you can ask an independent adviser to do it for you. If you're an appointee and claim tax credits for someone else, you can make the appeal for them.
Deadline for appeals
Normally, you have to appeal within 30 days of when the Tax Credit Office sent you their decision. In special cases they’ll give you more time but you must tell them your reason for making a late appeal.
They can’t accept an appeal dated 13 months or more after they sent their decision.
How to appeal
Your appeal needs to be in writing and you can do this in one of the following ways:
- send the Tax Credit Office a letter
- send the Tax Credit Office a completed form TC623 Tax Credits appeal form
You must say in your appeal what you think is wrong. You must also say which decision you are appealing against.
You will need to send your letter or completed appeal form to:
Tax Credit Office
Preston
PR1 0SB
Go to the tax credits appeal form (PDF 35K)
What happens next?
If the Tax Credit Office hasn't already done so, they'll check that the decision is correct and explain it. If you’re happy with the explanation you’ll need to withdraw your appeal. If you still do not agree or if you don't think they've dealt with all the points in your appeal, your case can go to an independent tribunal.
The tribunal will be run by one of the following, depending on where you live:
- for England, Scotland and Wales – the Tribunals Service
- for Northern Ireland – the Appeals Service
The Tax Credit Office will set out their response to your appeal, which will explain the law and the facts they used to make their decision. They will also send you or your representative a copy of their response.
If you want to know what happens after you've sent your appeal to the tribunal you can get more information from the relevant websites by following the links below.
Find out more about the Tribunals Service on their website
More about the appeals procedure for Northern Ireland on the Appeals Service website
If your circumstances change
If anything changes that could affect your payments, you must let the Tax Credit Office know straight away.
Don't wait for the appeal hearing.
Tax credits: how and when to tell the Tax Credit Office about changes
Withdrawing the appeal
You can withdraw your appeal at any time by:
- calling the Tax Credit Helpline
- writing to the address on the decision notice
- contacting the Appeals or Tribunal Service that is dealing with your appeal, if your appeal has been sent to them
More useful links
Where to start if things go wrong with tax credits
More about how to appeal against a tax credits decision (PDF 111K)
