HMRC confirms that around 23,000 further working tax credit claimants will receive the one-off £500 Covid payment in September 2021

Permanent Secretary advises that payments will be made where finalisation of awards reveals that the claimant met the eligible criteria for the one-off payment at 2 March 2021

HMRC has confirmed that around 23,000 further working tax credits will receive the one-off £500 Covid payment in September 2021.

In a Treasury Committee letter dated 9 July 2021 regarding HMRC’s spending estimates for 2021/2022, the Committee asked -

'The Department has included £765 million in Resource DEL in the 2021/2022 Main Estimate to provide a one-off grant payment of £500 for households who are receiving working tax credit, after the temporary increase to working tax credit ended on 5 April 2021. Have all these payments now been received by households? How many households received this one-off payment?'

In a response published yesterday (dated 2 August 2021), HMRC's Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary Jim Harra confirmed that -

'One-off payments have been made to 1.4 million households totalling expenditure of £714.3 million. Circa 2,000 payments have been rejected and we have contacted customers for updated bank details before reissuing these payments.'

In addition, Mr Harra confirmed that there will be an additional phase of payments in September 2021 -

'... to pay circa 23,000 customers post finalisation of their tax credits award, where finalisation reveals they met the eligible criteria for the one-off payment at 2 March 2021.'

For more information, see Letter from Jim Harra, Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary relating to 2021-22 HMRC Main Estimate from parliament.uk

Update: HM Treasury has today issued a Treasury Direction that extends the Covid-19 support scheme -

'... to provide for a support payment of £500 to be made to persons entitled to working tax credit for a period which includes 2 March 2021, but who did not qualify to receive a support payment under the Scheme as set out in the schedule to the initial direction.'

Source: Treasury Direction made under Section 76 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 (10 September 2021).