HMRC reports that more than three million people renewed their tax credits on time, although only one in ten made their claims online despite efforts by the tax authorities to persuade people to submit claims online - the majority still prefer using telephone or postal services.
Over 1.2m people called HMRC’s tax credit hotline to renew and over 1.3m renewed by post. In comparison, 390,000 renewed via www.gov.uk – nearly half of whom used a mobile phone or tablet to renew. The busiest day online was 31 July when over 21,000 claimants renewed.
The deadline for renewing claims was extended by a week this year, to 6 August, after a strike by members of the Public and Commercial Services union threatened to disrupt HMRC’s customer service functions
HMRC is advising anyone who has not yet renewed their tax credits but should have done so to call HMRC straight away to ensure their payments do not stop.
