National statistics

Child and Working Tax Credits statistics: finalised annual awards, supplement on payments, commentary - 2021 to 2022

Published 28 September 2023

1. Background

These statistics provide a breakdown of payments made for tax credit claims based on finalised data. This is a supplementary publication following the Finalised Annual Awards publications released in July 2023 for tax year 2021 to 2022, following award finalisation.

The rate of decline in the number of families receiving tax credits increased in 2021 to 2022, largely due to the roll out of Universal Credit.

Generally, the decreases observed between 2021 to 2022 were observed in our finalised annual awards publication found below:

Child and Working Tax Credits statistics, finalised annual awards - 2021 to 2022

Finalisation occurs four to nine months after the end of the tax year when the families’ circumstances for the whole year are known and a finalised award can be calculated. Tax credits recipient families that delay reporting changes in household circumstances can result in either an overpayment or underpayment in their claim.

2. Main headlines

Figure 1: Number of awards by payment type and year

Figure 1 shows the number of tax credits claims that were overpaid, underpaid or paid correctly since 2019 to 2020.

The total number of tax credits continues to decrease, as has the number of underpaid, overpaid and correctly paid awards.

Between 6 April 2021 and 5 April 2022:

• 51% (923k) of tax credits were paid correctly, a fall of 5 percentage points compared to last year.

• 35% (622k) of tax credits were overpaid, a rise of 4 percentage points compared to last year.

• 14% (250k) of tax credits were underpaid, remaining relatively stable compared to last year.

• The average amount overpaid this year was £1,030, and average amount underpaid this year was £715.

3. Underpaid awards by band of payment

Figure 2: Underpaid awards by band of underpayment

Figure 2 shows the number of tax credits claims that were underpaid, split by band of underpayment, for both this year and last year’s finalised awards.

Underpayments can range from below £50 to over £2,000. Between 6 April 2021 and 5 April 2022:

• The highest number of underpayments were in the £200 to £500 group, the same as last year.

• The £50 to £100 payment group saw the only increase in number of underpaid awards, of 7%.

• The £500 to £1,000 payment group saw the largest decrease in number of underpaid awards, of 30%.

4. Overpaid awards by band of payment

Figure 3: Overpaid awards by band of overpayment

Figure 3 shows the number of tax credits that were overpaid, split by band of overpayment, for both this year and last year’s finalised awards.

Overpayments can range from below £50 to over £2,000. Between 6 April 2021 and 5 April 2022:

• The highest number of overpayments were in the £200 to £500 group, the same as last year.
• The £1,000 to £2,000 payment group saw the only increase in number of overpaid awards, of 2%.
• The following groups saw the greatest decrease in number of overpaid awards: £10 to £50; £50 to £100; £100 to £200; and more than £5,000. These groups saw decreases of between 28% and 29%.

5. Underpaid and overpaid awards by income band

Figure 4: Underpaid and overpaid awards by income band

Figure 4 shows the number of tax credits payments that were overpaid or underpaid based on the claimant’s income. Between 6 April 2021 and 5 April 2022:

• The income band group with the highest total number of underpaid and overpaid awards was the £20,000 to £30,000 group.

• With the exception of the £5,000 to £10,000 income band group, all income band groups had more overpayments than underpayments.

• Claimants with an income between £30,000 to £40,000 were 4.66 times more likely to have an overpayment than an underpayment.

6. Overpaid or underpaid awards by employment status and type of tax credit received

Figure 5: Overpaid or underpaid awards by employment status and type of tax credit received

Figure 5 shows the number of tax credits payments that were overpaid or underpaid based on the family’s employment status and type of tax credits received. Between 6 April 2021 and 5 April 2022:

• The group with the highest total number of overpaid awards and underpaid awards were for those in work, receiving both Working Tax Credits (WTC) and Child Tax Credits (CTC).

• With the exception of the ‘in work, WTC only’ profile group, all groups received more overpaid awards than underpaid awards.

• The ‘in work, receiving CTC only’ profile group had the largest relative number of overpayments to underpayments (2 overpayments for every underpayment).