Exact date over one million families on tax credits will get second £324 cost of living payment
THE exact date when households claiming tax credits will get the £324 cost of living payment has been revealed.
Roughly one million households claiming tax credits will get the second chunk of their £650 cost of living payment from Wednesday, November 23.
The payment, worth £324, will be made by November 30.
It will land automatically in your account if you are eligible - so you don't need to do anything to get the help.
Those claiming tax credits have to wait longer for their cost of living help.
That's to avoid duplicate payments where people claim tax credits and another of the qualifying benefits.
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Anyone who claims both types of the benefit - child tax credit and working tax credit - will have the payment made into the bank account where child tax credits are paid.
You must have been entitled, or later found to be entitled to a tax credit payment, or annual award of at least £26, between August 26 and September 25 this year.
The other 7.2million claiming other means-tested benefits including Universal Credit get the help earlier, from November 8 to November 23.
If you get tax credits from HMRC and a low income benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), you should have had the first cost of living payment already.
The first instalment, worth £326, was paid from July, with those on tax credits paid theirs in September.
Cost of living payments are tax-free, do not count towards the benefit cap and do not affect the amount you usually get from benefits.
The payment will come from HMRC.
HMRC deputy chief executive and second permanent secretary Angela MacDonald said: "This second Cost of Living Payment will provide further financial support to eligible tax credit-only claimants across the UK.
“The £324 will be paid automatically into bank accounts, so people don't need to do anything to receive this extra help.”
Who's eligible for the £650 cost of living payment?
The £650 cash boost was announced by ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak as part of a package of measures to help people through the current crisis.
The first payment of £326 has already been made to the following eligible people:
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
Those on tax credits got the first part of the payment in September.
From the start of October, households began to receive the discount.
A number of energy suppliers, including British Gas, E.ON, EDF and Shell Energy have confirmed how they'll pay their customers.
And pensioners are also set to get a helping hand with an extra £300 one-off payment during the winter months too.
The amount you get will depend on what you're eligible for and could be more or less than that.
The most in need could up to £1,500 through the cost of living handouts.
A £300 one-off "Pensioner Cost of Living Payment" will be paid out to eight million pensioner households.
It will be given to those who already get the Winter Fuel Payment - which is worth between £100 and £300 for those over state pension age.
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The extra £300 boost will be paid on top of this support which means some eligible households will see their payments double this winter.
You can check out if you are eligible for the Winter Fuel payment in our explainer.