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Wednesday, 3 October 2023

Money, tax and benefits

If you want someone to act on your behalf for tax credits

If you have difficulties dealing with your tax credits, you can ask someone else to help you. But they'll need your authority to talk to the Tax Credit Office on your behalf.

Who can act on your behalf?

There are various types of people or organisations that can act on your behalf. They are often known as ‘intermediaries’, and can include:

voluntary organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau
a friend or relative
someone who explains things to you if you have difficulty understanding English, for example an interpreter, who might also be a friend or relative

You can also get a paid professional adviser such as an accountant, solicitor or tax adviser to help you. These are often known as ‘agents’ rather than intermediaries. If you want to do this, there are different arrangements that you need to follow.

You can find out more by following the link below.

Find out about authorising an accountant to act on your behalf

What an 'intermediary' can do for you

An intermediary can:

talk to the Tax Credit Office about your claim
help with filling in the forms
answer any questions on your behalf
smooth the process of making and renewing your claim

They cannot receive the payment on your behalf as that goes straight into your own bank account.

When you need to authorise an intermediary

You need to authorise someone to act for you if, for example, you:

want someone to call the Tax Credit Helpline on your behalf for some one-off advice about your tax credits claim
want them to handle your tax credits affairs over a period of time

You don’t need to authorise someone to act if you just want them to get general advice for you. This is because they won’t be asking for or giving any personal information about you or your claim.

How to authorise an intermediary to act for you

For a one-off authorisation

You can get someone authorised just for the length of a phone call. But you'll need to be with them in person when you contact the Tax Credit Helpline. You will be asked to confirm your identity and to authorise the intermediary to speak on your behalf during the call.

For authorisation of up to 12 months

What to do	Helpful hints
Step 1 - Fill in form TC689 Authority for an intermediary to act on your behalf	for joint claims, each of you needs to sign the form if you want the intermediary to act for both of you if you want the authorisation to be for less than 12 months - or longer than 12 months - make sure you give an end date on the form TC689 you can send in a letter instead - as long as you provide the same information that’s asked for on form TC689
Step 2 - Ask your chosen intermediary to fill in the details on the back of the form
Step 3 - Send the completed form TC689 or letter to the Tax Credit Office, Preston, PR1 4AT	a photocopied form is acceptable, but any signatures must be original make your claim for tax credits if you haven’t already done so

Download 'Authority for an intermediary to act on your behalf' (PDF, 78K) Opens new window

Help with PDF files

What happens after you’ve sent in your authorisation?

You have to deal with your own tax credit matters until the Tax Credit Office has received your claim form and completed form TC689. So don’t delay sending them back. In the meantime the person acting for you can still get in touch with the Tax Credit Helpline. But you'll need to be with them in person when they call.

The Tax Credit Office will deal as quickly as possible with the authorisation. This usually takes about 48 hours from the time they get your letter or completed form TC689.

Changes that affect your authorisation

Change	What to do
You have a joint claim for tax credits, and have given joint authorisation, but you have split up with your partner	tell the Tax Credit Office you have split up from your partner make a new claim for tax credits fill in and return a new form TC689
You want a different person or organisation to act on your behalf	tell the Tax Credit Office as soon as possible fill in and return a new form TC689 or send in a letter giving the same information
You want to change the end-date of the authorisation	write to the Tax Credit Office, Preston PR1 4AT - you won’t need to fill in a new form TC689

Renewing the authorisation

If you want to renew the authorisation, you will need to fill in and return a new form TC689. Or you can send in a letter giving the same information as on the form TC689. A photocopied form is acceptable, but any signatures must be original.

You should renew in plenty of time - ideally at least two days before the deadline is up. This is to ensure that your intermediary’s authorisation does not run out.

Contacting the Tax Credit Office

If you need more help you can call the Tax Credit Helpline.

If you don’t speak English as a first language, you can ask to be put through to someone who can translate for you. You can use your own interpreter if you want, but they must be with you when you call.