Can I Claim Tax Credits If My Child Doesn’t Live With Me?
By
HuutiMoney
If you are wondering whether or not you can claim Tax Credits if your child does not live with you, you will find the answer to this question in the following blog post as we explore the potential circumstances that affect your Tax Credits claim. In addition to this, we will also explore the eligibility criteria for Tax Credits as well as the amount you can expect to receive if your claim is approved.
Can I Claim Tax Credits If My Child Doesn’t Live With Me?
Whether or not you can claim Tax Credits if your child does not live with you depends on the following factors:
- the nature of the tax credits; and
- the circumstances around your child’s living arrangement
First of all, it is important to understand that the only part of Tax Credits that will be affected by your circumstances and your child’s living arrangements is Child Tax Credits. If you are claiming Working Tax Credits, these will not be affected by whether or not your child lives with you.
Secondly, Tax Credits are being replaced with Universal Credit. This means that while previous claimants can continue with their Tax Credits claim, no new claim can be made for Tax Credits; whether or not you meet the eligibility criteria as you will have to apply for Universal Credit.
In either case, the prerequisite for a Tax Credits claim is that the parent claiming a benefit payment must be responsible for a child. Based on this criteria, your child should be spending some time (if not all) living with you for you to be able to claim Child Tax Credits on their behalf.
In addition to this, if your child is financially dependent on you, you can still claim Tax Credits since you are the main person responsible for them and managing their living expenses.
However, if your child does not live with you at all and you are not the main person responsible for them, you will not be able to claim Child Tax Credits.
Who Is Eligible To Claim Child Tax Credits?
To be eligible for a Child Tax Credits claim, you should be able to meet the below listed qualifying criteria for the benefit:
- your child/children live with you all the time
- your child/children live with you at certain times but you are the main carer
- your child/children keep their belongings at your home
- you pay for your child/children’s meals and give them pocket money
- your child/children live in an EEA country or Switzerland but you are financially responsible for them
While it is not necessary for the claiming parent to be employed if they wish to claim Child Tax Credits, HMRC does look into the following information while assessing a claim:
- number of hours worked
- number of children being claimed for
- whether the claimant is a single parent
In the case of separated or divorced parents, only one of them can claim Child Tax Credits on behalf of their child/children. If both parties are unable to come to an agreement on this and end up filing separate claims, the HMRC will decide who the responsible parent is (based on the supporting documentation shared with them) and assign the Child Tax Credits claim accordingly.
How Much Can I Claim With Child Tax Credits?
The amount that you can claim with Child Tax Credits depends on your circumstances. Based. on this, payments for 2023-2024 can be classified as under:
- you can claim up to £545 as the basic amount or the ”family element”
- you can claim up to £3,235 for each child as part of the “child element”
- you can claim up to £3,905 for each disabled child (this is on top of the child element)
- you can claim up to £1,575 for each severely disabled child (this is on top of the child element and the disabled child element)
You can also use this tax credits calculator on the HMRC website to check the amount that you can claim through the benefit.
If you are not sure about any aspect of the Child Tax Credits claim, you can call the Tax Credits helpline at 0345 300 3900 from Monday to Friday, between 8 am and 6 pm. Alternatively, you can contact the Tax Credits department at HMRC for queries related to your claim.
Conclusion:
The above discussion helps to c include that whether or not you can claim Tax Credits for a child who does not live with you primarily depends on whether you are their primary carer and whether they are financially dependent on you or not. While some cases may be simple to assess, certain claimants may need to seek the advice of a benefits consultant such as Citizens Advice.
References:
Child Tax Credit: Responsibility for a Child – GOV.UK