If you're a parent, did you know that you have only a few days remaining to claim a tax allowance which could be as much as £1,000?
The tax allowance Children's Tax Credit Relief is not well-known by parents as it was quickly replaced, after being in existence for just two years, by Child Tax Credit. As a result, thousands of parents may have missed out on claiming.
Children's Tax Credit Relief will no longer exist after 31 January, so find out if you can claim today.
What is Children's Tax Credit Relief?
Any household, which included children under the age of 16 between 6 April 6 2001 and 5 April 5 2003, may be able to claim the tax allowance.
If you're entitled to the full tax relief, you can claim £529. And you can claim for another allowance, worth 520, if a child was born during the two-year period.
Surprisingly, the tax allowance was not means-tested so any family could make a claim, regardless of their earnings. But they could only receive one payment per family per tax year, irrespective of the number of children.
How do I claim?
Claims can only be backdated for five years, so you must make a claim by 31 January.
HMRC believe that most people who could claim the relief have claimed it. But if you feel that you never got your share, you can download a Claim Form from http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/11ctc.pdf.
Your local tax office or enquiry centre, which can be found in your phone book, can also download the form for you.
If you're self-employed, you can use your tax return to make a claim. If you have filed your tax return already, you make be able to get a rebate.
If you're an employee, you must complete Form 11CTC.
There is a disadvantage, however. The Inland Revenue will not gve you a £1,000 in cash but, instead, you will get an extra allowance which will reduce the amount of income tax you have to pay.
Mark Wallace, of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'People have been put off claiming these allowances because the Government gets it wrong and comes back to them years later saying they've underpaid their tax. So take-up is never great. But these can be valuable allowances that should be taken up by all families.'
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