TCTM02027 - Entitlement: Residence rules - Present and ordinarily resident: Making decisions about whether a person is ordinarily resident

When initially deciding if a person is ordinarily resident (under section 14 of the Tax Credits Act 2002) or later for a revised decision (under section 15 or 16), consider the facts that apply at the time. When making final decisions (under section 18) at the end of the year, consider if the decisions made during the year were correct based on the facts known at the time those decisions were made. For example, if a person intended to stay in the United Kingdom for several years at the time of our initial decision but later left the United Kingdom, our original decision should not be changed as at the time it was made that person was ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.

Generally, decisions about entitlement for a year should not be adjusted retrospectively if people end up spending more, or less, time in the United Kingdom than was reasonably expected when the decisions were made. Decisions about entitlement must be based on the facts as they exist at the time.

However, a decision can be revisited where it turns out the facts at the time were different from the facts as we understood them at the time we made our decision.