Tax credits if you leave or move to the UK

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1. Your family lives abroad

If your partner is outside the UK and you do not have children, check the Working Tax Credit guidance for information on whether you can continue to claim.

You have a child who lives abroad

If you already get Working Tax Credit and want to add Child Tax Credit to your claim, check if you鈥檙e eligible.

If you already get Child Tax Credit, you may be able to make a claim for an additional child if:

  • you are working in the UK
  • the child is living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
  • you are supporting the child

You must also be one of the following:

You usually cannot claim for a child who lives outside the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein. There鈥檚 an exception if your partner is a Crown servant posted abroad.

You must let HMRC know within a month if your partner or child join you in the UK. This is because your tax credits payments may change.

Your partner gets benefits in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

If you鈥檝e got children and your partner gets benefits paid by the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, this may affect your tax credits. You must tell HMRC if you or your partner are paid benefits by the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.

Some benefits are counted as income, for example benefits paid because of unemployment.

2. Going abroad

Your tax credits will stop if you expect to be away for one year or more.

You may still qualify for tax credits if you go abroad for a short period, for example on holiday or for medical treatment.

Reason for leaving How long you can get tax credits for
Medical treatment for yourself, your partner or your child Up to 12 weeks
Death of your partner, a child or close relative of either you or your partner Up to 12 weeks
Any other reason, for example holidays or business Up to 8 weeks

If your trip is going to last longer than 8 or 12 weeks, contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) within a month. Your tax credits will end unless:

  • you get UK benefits or State Pension and you live in another European country with a child
  • you work and pay National Insurance contributions in the UK, but your family lives in another European country

3. You live outside the UK

You may continue to get tax credits if you鈥檙e a Crown servant posted overseas or you live abroad with your child and get UK benefits or the State Pension.

You鈥檙e a Crown servant posted overseas

You may continue to get tax credits, just as if you were living in the UK. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will treat you as being in the UK if any of the following applies:

  • you are, or were just before you were posted abroad, 鈥榦rdinarily resident鈥� in the UK
  • you鈥檝e had a series of postings abroad, with no breaks in between - and you are or were 鈥榦rdinarily resident鈥� in the UK immediately before the first of those postings
  • you were in the UK just before you were posted abroad and the reason you were in the UK was connected to your posting - this can apply to a single posting or to a series of postings

Ordinarily resident

Ordinarily resident means you normally live in the UK, and plan to stay here for the time being. When HMRC decides if you鈥檙e ordinarily resident in the UK they鈥檒l look at things like:

  • where your settled home is
  • where your close family live
  • why you came to the UK
  • if you plan to leave the UK permanently in the next 2 or 3 years

Your partner鈥檚 a Crown servant posted overseas

You may continue to get tax credits if your partner鈥檚 a Crown servant posted outside the UK and you:

  • live with your partner while they work abroad
  • live in the UK while your partner works abroad

You do not need to be ordinarily resident in the UK during the time you鈥檙e with your Crown servant partner overseas.

You have a child - and get UK benefits or State Pension

If none of the sections above apply to you, you may continue to get Child Tax Credit (or add it to an existing Working Tax Credit claim) if you and your child live in a European Union (EU) member state and you get State Pension or one of the following benefits:

  • Incapacity Benefit
  • State Pension
  • Widow鈥檚 Benefit
  • Bereavement Benefit
  • Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
  • contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance
  • Severe Disablement Allowance

You will not be able to get Child Tax Credit if you do not live in an EU member state, unless you (or your partner) are a Crown servant posted abroad.

4. Moving to the UK

You must have been living in the UK for 3 months before you were eligible to claim Child Tax Credit if you moved to the UK on or after 1 July 2014 and do not have a job. This does not apply if you:

  • are a family member of someone who works or is self-employed
  • are a refugee
  • have been granted discretionary leave to enter or stay in the UK and you can get benefits
  • have been given leave to stay as a displaced person and you can get benefits
  • have been given to leave to stay and have applied for settlement as a victim of domestic violence
  • have been granted humanitarian protection
  • were made redundant in the UK (or your family member was) and you鈥檙e looking for a job or in training
  • were working in the UK before but temporarily cannot work because of your health or an accident
  • have been abroad for less than a year but usually live in the UK and were claiming Child Tax Credits before moving
  • have been abroad for less than a year but usually live in the UK and were in the UK for at least 3 months before moving
  • paid Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance contributions while you were working abroad, and paid these in the 3 month period before returning to the UK

5. Cross-border workers

You may continue to get tax credits if you regularly travel from:

  • another country to work in the UK
  • the UK to work in another country

Working Tax Credit

You may continue to get Working Tax Credit if you live in:

  • the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and work in the UK
  • the UK and work in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein

Child Tax Credit

You and your partner - if you have one - may continue to get Child Tax Credit for your children if:

  • you work in the UK
  • you pay National Insurance as a worker here
  • your child lives in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
  • your child is living with your partner or someone else and they depend on you to support them

You usually cannot claim for a child who lives outside the the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein. There鈥檚 an exception if your partner is a Crown servant posted abroad.

Childcare costs

You can usually claim help for your childcare costs through the childcare element of Working Tax Credit.

To qualify your children must either:

6. Immigration control

You usually cannot get tax credits if you鈥檙e 鈥榮ubject to immigration control鈥�, although there are some exceptions. You鈥檒l still need to meet the other qualifying rules, for example work the right number of hours.

When you arrived in the UK your passport may have been stamped. The stamp shows the conditions of your stay in the UK, for example 鈥榥o recourse to public funds鈥�. Public funds include tax credits and most benefits.

Exceptions

You may continue to get tax credits if:

  • your partner lives in the UK and is not subject to immigration control
  • one of the examples below applies to you or your partner

You have permission to stay in the UK because someone else supports you

You may continue to get tax credits if someone else is responsible for your maintenance while you鈥檙e in the UK. This means they pay for your upkeep and provide you with somewhere to live. This person is often called your 鈥榮ponsor鈥�, and could be a friend, employer or relative.

All of the following must apply:

  • your sponsor has given the Home Office a written statement saying that they鈥檙e sponsoring you
  • your sponsor has permission to stay in the UK
  • you鈥檝e been living permanently in the UK for at least 5 years, either since you came into the UK or since you started being sponsored (whichever date is later)

You may also continue to get tax credits if you鈥檝e been living in the UK for fewer than 5 years, but:

  • your sponsor has died
  • all your sponsors - if you had more than one - have died

You鈥檙e from Albania, Morocco, San Marino or Tunisia

You cannot get Working Tax Credit.

You may continue to get Child Tax Credit if you鈥檙e either working in the UK or you鈥檙e not working because you鈥檙e:

  • retired
  • pregnant or looking after children
  • sick or disabled or your partner has died

You鈥檙e from Turkey

To continue to get Working Tax Credit you need to be lawfully present in the UK and a Turkish national.

You may continue to get Child Tax Credit if you鈥檙e either working in the UK or you鈥檙e not working because you鈥檙e:

  • retired
  • pregnant or looking after children
  • sick or disabled or your partner has died

You鈥檙e from North Macedonia

You may continue to get Working Tax Credit if you鈥檙e a national of North Macedonia. You鈥檒l need to be lawfully present in the UK.

You cannot normally get Child Tax Credit. However, you may continue to if you鈥檝e been getting payments for your children through Income Support or income-based Jobseeker鈥檚 Allowance.

You claimed asylum before 5 February 2006

You may continue to get Child Tax Credit if you received financial support for your children through Income Support or income-based Jobseeker鈥檚 Allowance.