To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons his Department sends a standard tax credits renewal pack to the next-of-kin of deceased tax credit claimants. (225398)

[holding answer 9 October 2008]: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fully recognise the distress that bereavement causes for families.

When a customer dies HMRC has a statutory obligation to ensure the correct amount of tax credits was paid prior to the death. These cases are dealt with by a dedicated team in the Tax Credits office.

In these circumstances HMRC send a sensitively worded letter to a personal representative of the deceased explaining why the annual declaration is required.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were in receipt of tax credits at the end of each of the last 10 fiscal years. (230926)

Estimates of the average number of families benefiting from child and working tax credits are available in the HMRC publications ‘Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards’, for each relevant year. These publications are available on the HMRC website at:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personaltax-credits/cwto-quarterly-stats.htm

Child and working tax credits replaced working families’ tax credit in April 2003.

Estimates of the number of recipient families of working families’ tax credit are available in the HMRC publications ‘Working Families’ Tax Credit and Family Credit Statistics. Quarterly Enquiry’, for each relevant quarter. These publications are available on the HMRC website at:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/wftctables/index.htm