Tax Credits if you are State Pension age
Tax Credits are ending on 5 April 2025. If you, or your partner are State Pension age and get Tax Credits, you will receive a letter from the Department for Communities telling you what will happen next. This letter will tell you what to do to continue getting financial support.
You do not need to do anything until you receive your letter from the Department for Communities
Who will move to Universal Credit or Pension Credit
You will be asked to make a claim to Universal Credit or Pension Credit depending on your circumstances.
| If you currently get | You will now get | From |
|---|---|---|
| Working Tax Credits or Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits |
Universal Credit | September 2024 |
| Child Tax Credits | Pension Credit | September 2024 |
| Child Tax Credits and Pension Credit | Pension Credit | September 2024 |
If you currently get Working Tax Credits
If you, or your partner are State Pension age and get Working Tax Credits
or Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits the Department for Communities will send you a letter called a ‘Migration Notice’ telling you that you will need to make a claim for Universal Credit within 3 months from the date noted on your letter to continue receiving financial support.
You can claim Universal Credit even if you have money, savings and investments over £16,000 for 12 assessment periods. Get details on how you make a claim for Universal Credit
If you are getting Housing Benefit when you get your Migration Notice letter your
- entitlement to Housing Benefit will end the day before the 3 months deadline date on your Migration Notice
- Housing Benefit will be paid in the usual way for an extra two weeks after your Tax Credits claim ends
If you choose to claim Universal Credit you can apply for help with your housing costs when you make your claim to Universal Credit.
If you choose not to claim Universal Credit, you will need to reclaim Housing Benefit to get help with housing costs
You can contact the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for more information.
If you receive a Migration Notice letter asking you to claim Universal Credit you can choose to claim Pension Credit, but you will not be eligible for Transitional Protection if you do so. Once a claim to Pension Credit is made, the option to claim Universal Credit is closed.
Extra financial support
If you are entitled to Universal Credit you will get your first payment about five weeks after you claim. You may be able to claim extra financial support while waiting on your payment to help with essential costs, this help includes a Universal Credit Contingency Fund grant that you don’t need to pay back.
The Benefit Cap
The Benefit Cap is normally applied to Universal Credit and other benefits. This a limit on the total amount of benefit you can get. However, the benefit cap will not apply if:
- You are State Pension age
- You are still working
- you get a Migration Notice asking you to claim Universal Credit
Find out more about the Benefit Cap
If you claim a pension or delayed your State Pension
You can still claim Universal Credit if you are getting a pension but the amount of pension you get will be deducted from your Universal Credit amount and treated as income.
If you delayed or “deferred” taking your pension before you received your Migration Notice, your deferred pension will not count as income for 12 assessment periods.
If you then decide to take your pension within the 12 assessment periods, it is treated as income.
After 12 assessment periods, the amount of pension you are entitled to is counted as income, even if you decide not to take the money out. This is known as ‘notional’ income, and it can affect how much Universal Credit you get.
Once you move to Universal Credit, you will not be able to continue building up any extra State Pension or a State Pension lump sum (if you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016).
If you currently get Child Tax Credits
If you, or your partner are State Pension age and get Child Tax Credits the Department for Communities will send you a letter called a ‘Tax Credit Closure Notice’ telling you that you will need to make a claim for Pension Credit within 3 months from the date noted on your letter to continue getting financial support.
If you are getting Housing Benefit when you receive a Tax Credit Closure notice you will be contacted by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive if there are any changes to your Housing Benefit.
If you currently get Child Tax Credits and Pension Credit
If you, or your partner are State Pension age and get Child Tax Credits and Pension Credit the Department for Communities will send you a letter called a ‘Tax Credit Closure Notice’. This Closure Notice letter will tell you that your Tax Credit award will be closing, and you don’t need to do anything to continue receiving Pension Credit.
It will also tell you that the Department for Communities will review what you are getting on Pension Credit to take account of your Tax Credits ending. Pension Credit will contact you to advise if there are any changes.
If you are getting Housing Benefit when you receive a Tax Credit Closure Notice you will be contacted by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive if there are any changes to your Housing Benefit.
If you are in a “mixed age” couple
If you are in a couple and one of you is State Pension age and the other is under State Pension age, you will be a “mixed age” couple. The Department for Communities will send both you and your partner a Migration Notice as you will both need to make a claim to move to Universal Credit.
Universal Credit: information for couples
Transitional Protection for Pension Age Tax Credit customers
Measures have been put in place to help and support you when your Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits ends, and your circumstances have not changed.
This is called Transition Protection and if you are eligible, it means the amount of money you are entitled to should stay the same.
To be eligible for ‘Transitional Protection’:
- you must have a letter from the Department for Communities telling you that your Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits is ending
- you must take action if you need to before the deadline date in your letter
- there must be no changes in your circumstances
If you are eligible, financial protection will be automatically added to your payment. Transitional Protection is not a loan, or a debt and you will not be asked to repay it.
Contact the Move to Universal Credit team
For Move to Universal Credit support, contact Universal Credit on phone, text-phone or video relay for sign language users
You can send an online request to the Move to Universal Credit team if you can’t use a phone due to a language, speech or hearing difficulty.
Contact the Pension Credit team
For Pension Credit Support, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre on phone, textphone or video relay for sign language users
Help and support
To find out if you are entitled to other benefits or financial support, you can contact the Make the Call Service.
For in-person benefit support and help with computer skills or Wi-Fi access contact your local Jobs and Benefits office
If you would like independent help and advice on Universal Credit, Pension Credit or any of the other welfare changes, you can visit any independent advice office or contact: