How to Transfer Child Benefit National Insurance Credits to Your Partner (CF411A) (2026/27)

This guide is general information, not advice.

This guide is for couples with a child under 12 where one partner stays at home or earns too little to build a National Insurance record, and the other is registered for Child Benefit and is already working. The Child Benefit credit lands on the working partner’s record, where it usually does nothing. It can be moved to the partner at home.

At the end you will have a submitted CF411A application, a reference number to track it, and a way to confirm the credit has reached the right record.

Before you start

Check the credit is wasted where it is. GOV.UK says you can transfer Child Benefit credits to your spouse or partner living with you “if you have paid a year’s National Insurance contributions (called a ‘qualifying year’ for State Pension)” (National Insurance credits). For an employee, pay at or above the Lower Earnings Limit protects the record. For 2026/27 that limit is £129 a week, £6,708 a year (HMRC rates and thresholds 2026 to 2027). GOV.UK’s National Insurance overview says an employee earning from £129 to £242 a week from one job, or a self-employed person with profits of £7,105 or more, has contributions “treated as having been paid to protect your National Insurance record”.

Then have ready:

• Both National Insurance numbers, yours and the Child Benefit claimant’s.
• The Child Benefit details: who is registered, and for which child.
• The tax years you want the credits for, and the dates you lived together.
• An HMRC sign-in (Government Gateway or GOV.UK One Login) to apply online.

Step-by-step

1. Confirm you meet the transfer conditions. HMRC’s CF411A notes list four. For the period you want:

   • you reach State Pension age after that period;
   • the person registered for Child Benefit cannot get credits because their earnings were “equal to or above the qualifying earnings factor for that year”;
   • you were living with them and sharing the care of a child under 12;
   • you could have registered for Child Benefit yourself if your spouse, partner or civil partner had not.

   The form covers periods from 6 April 2010. Before that, the credits were Home Responsibilities Protection, which has its own form.

2. Make sure a Child Benefit claim exists. GOV.UK says a parent registered for Child Benefit for a child under 12 gets Class 3 credits automatically, “even if you do not receive it” (eligibility). No claim, no credit to move. Our Child Benefit guide covers claiming and opting out of payments.

3. Apply online. From the CF411A page, choose “Apply online” and sign in, or create sign-in details. Any supporting evidence must be no more than 5MB, in PDF or JPEG. You get a reference number to track progress.

4. Or post the form. The print-and-post version on the same page must be filled in fully before you can print it, and cannot be saved part-way. Send it, with any evidence, to PT Operations North East England, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AN.

5. Apply for each tax year you need. Say which years the transfer is for. The deadline below runs separately for each one.

Deadlines and what happens next

• Time limit. The CF411A notes say to apply “before the end of the tax year (5 April) following the relevant period”. Their example: a transfer for 2016 to 2017 should be applied for before 5 April 2018. Applying the same rule, a transfer for 2025/26 should be applied for before 5 April 2027.
• Late applications. Still apply, giving the reason you are late. HMRC says that if the circumstances are reasonable it can still award the credits, as long as you meet the transfer conditions.
• Checking the result. Use check your National Insurance record. It shows credits received and which years are qualifying years, up to the start of the current tax year (6 April 2026). GOV.UK does not give a processing time on these pages, so check periodically using your reference.
• If it is wrong or refused. GOV.UK says to contact the office where you applied if credits are wrong on your record, and that you can challenge a credits decision by asking for a mandatory reconsideration.

Common mistakes

• Not claiming Child Benefit at all because of the High Income Child Benefit Charge. GOV.UK says you can claim and opt out of payments and still get the credits (make a change to your claim).
• Applying when the claimant needs the credit. If the Child Benefit claimant has no qualifying year of their own, the conditions are not met.
• Leaving it for years. The notes set a deadline for each tax year; a late application depends on HMRC accepting your reason.
• Using CF411A for a grandparent. A related family member caring for the child applies for Specified Adult Childcare credits instead.

Worked example

A couple live together with a 3-year-old. One partner is registered for Child Benefit and works all of 2026/27 on £40,000 a year, well above the Lower Earnings Limit of £6,708, so their own contributions give them a qualifying year. The other partner is at home, under State Pension age, with no earnings.

The automatic Child Benefit credit adds nothing to the working partner’s record. The partner at home applies on CF411A for 2026/27, before 5 April 2028 under the notes’ time limit. If HMRC awards the transfer, the credits go on their record instead; the CF411A notes say these credits “help to protect your entitlement to the new State Pension”.

Related reading

• Child Benefit claim 2026/27 - claiming, rates and opting out of payments while keeping the credits.
• UK State Pension guide - how qualifying years build your State Pension.
• Voluntary National Insurance contributions - filling gaps that credits do not cover.