Hundreds of thousands of people will get £300 boost from today – are you eligible?

Person looks at budget with calculator

HMRC will begin paying the £300 instalment to eligible people on tax credits from November 10

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Jessica Sheldon

By Jessica Sheldon


Published: 09/11/2023

- 19:11

Updated: 10/11/2023

- 13:50

HMRC will begin paying the £300 instalment of the £900 cost of living payment to eligible people from tomorrow

Hundreds of thousands of people will get the £300 one-off cost of living payment from tomorrow.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will make the payment to most people who are eligible via tax credits between November 10 and November 19, 2023.


The DWP has already begun making the payments to those eligible via Universal Credit, Income-based JSA, Income-based ESA, Income Support and Pension Credit.

A person will be eligible for the £300 cost of living payment via tax credits if they received a payment of tax credits for any day in the period of August 18 to September 17, 2023, or if they later get a payment for any day in that period.

Money in pictures

The £300 is one of three cost of living payments for people on certain benefits available this financial year

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People who get tax credits from HMRC and a low-income benefit from DWP can’t get a cost of living payment from both HMRC and DWP.

Instead, they will usually get the payment via the DWP only.

Tax credit recipients won’t be eligible for the cost of living payment if their tax credit entitlement for the tax year is less than £26.

The payment will be made automatically to eligible people, with the payment reference “HMRC COLS”.

Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary, said: “The £300 Cost of Living Payment will deliver further financial support to eligible tax credits customers across the UK.

"Another payment will be made by spring 2024 to those entitled to receive it.

“HMRC customers will receive the payment automatically, with no action required from them, to make this as simple as possible.”

The £300 payment is the second instalment of the £900 cost of living payment which is being paid to those on low income benefits and tax credits this financial year.

HMRC logo on building wall

The third instalment of £299 will be paid by spring 2024 for most eligible people

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Those who get one of the following benefits on certain dates may qualify:

  • Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit
  • Universal Credit
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Working Tax Credit.

People who only get New Style ESA, contributory ESA, or New Style JSA will not qualify.

Eligible people with a joint claim on the qualifying date will get a single payment using the same payment method used for their benefits.

The third instalment of £299 will be paid by spring 2024 for most eligible people.

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