Today is the final day Tax Credit claimants will be receiving their benefit renewal forms - and if you don't have them you can't renew.

Unlike other benefits, if you claim Tax Credits you have to renew your claim each July to keep receiving the money from HMRC. Each year the renewal deadline for Tax Credits - both working and child - is July 31. If you miss this deadline then you will have your benefit payments stopped.

If you miss the deadline you will also need to repay the tax credits you were given since April 6 - you will usually receive a statement of how much you owe. Your benefits won't be stopped if you send your renewal within 30 days of receiving this statement. HMRC has been sending its renewal packs to over 730,000 people since May 2 and today is the final day.

You cannot renew your Tax Credit claims without your renewal pack - this means if you have not received your pack, you will need to take action or risk missing the renewal deadline. If you have not received your renewal pack by the end of the day you will need to contact HMRC and get it sent to you. You can contact the HMRC Tax Credirs helpline on 0345 300 3900.

Your renewal pack will either contain an "Annual Renewal Notice" or a notice and an "Annual Declaration Form". If you receive the first, then all you need to do is check whether the information HMRC has about you is correct. If it is, you do not need to do anything and your Tax Credits will continue at the amount shown in the letter going forward. You only need to contact HMRC if there is a mistake and you will need to do this before the deadline on July 31. If correct

However, if you get the latter, then you will need to check that the information is correct, fill out the declaration form and then send it back to HMRC. Your renewal pack will include instructions on how to give the right information. As mentioned before you will need to send this back to HMRC before the July 31. If you miss the deadline, the fastest way to give HMRC the right information is to call the tax credits helpline on 0345 300 3900. If this is the case, Citizen's Advice says you should ask them to send written confirmation of what you discussed.