Families who receive Tax Credits will get their £301 cost of living payment early next month, the Government has announced.
The money, which is the first instalment of the £900 support package announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt during November’s Autumn Statement, will be paid between May 2 and May 9 by HMRC to over one million households who currently receive Tax Credits, and no other means-tested benefits. The second and third instalments are due later this year and early next.
Payments will be made automatically, so there’s no need to apply. You will be eligible for this payment if you received Tax Credits for any day in the period January 26 to February 25 this year or you are later found to have been entitled to a payment for this period.
Read more: DWP plans to move families from Tax Credits to Universal Credit in April
The payment will show as ‘HMRC COLS’ in bank and building society accounts and will be paid into the same account as your Tax Credits. If you have a joint claim, where one person receives Working Tax Credit and the other receives Child Tax Credit, payments will be made into the same bank account as the Child Tax Credit. HMRC has advised people to wait until May 16 to contact them if they believe they are eligible but have not received a payment.
Chief secretary to the Treasury John Glen, said: “Higher prices make life difficult for everyone, which is why our priority is to halve inflation this year. But we are also going further to support those struggling most, with a total package of support worth an average of £3,300 per household this year and next - including up to £900 in direct cash payments starting next month for families receiving Tax Credits.”
Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s deputy chief executive and second permanent secretary, added: “The £301 cost of living payment will deliver vital financial help to eligible Tax Credit customers across the UK. Further support will be paid in Autumn 2023 and Spring 2024 to those entitled to payment."
The payment date for families claiming Tax Credits - one of the so-called legacy benefits - is a couple of weeks after the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) pays the £301 payment to more than 8m people who claim means-tested benefits, such as Universal Credit. The DWP announced earlier this month that payments to those people will be between April 25 and May 17.
The DWP has also warned people to be on their guard against fraudsters asking people to make a claim for any cost of living payment. The £301 payments from both the DWP and HMRC will be sent out automatically to the account used by claimants for their qualifying benefit, which means nobody needs to apply for the financial support - if you receive a text, email or phone call asking you to make a claim for any cost of living payment, it is a scam.
More than 8m people in the UK received the £650 cost of living payment last year, but this year the payment has been increased to £900 and will be split into three payments of £301, £300 and £299. There will also be a separate £150 for over 6m disabled people nationwide and £300 for another 8m pensioners on top of their Winter Fuel Payments to help them meet their energy bills coming later this year.
The Government has refused to release exact dates when the second and third payments will hit people's bank accounts, just Autumn 2023 and Spring 2024. But as it has already stated that payments will all be made in the 2023/2024 financial year, the last sum should be paid before April 5, 2024.
To be eligible for the payment, you need to have been entitled to a payment for one of these benefits between 26 January and 25 February 2023, or payment for an assessment period ending between these dates:
- Universal Credit
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit
- Pension Credit
The DWP is also encouraging low-income pensioners not already getting Pension Credit to check their eligibility, as they can still qualify for the £301 Cost of Living Payment if they make a successful backdated Pension Credit application by 19 May.
Now read:
- Month-by-month guide to when you can expect all of this year's cost of living payments
- DWP benefits could be slashed as energy bill repayments freeze comes to an end
- New mums can claim extra £600 when taking time off work to look after babies
- Universal Credit: What the announcements in the Budget mean for you if you claim benefits
- DWP warning to millions of benefit claimants who could be slapped with £50 fines
