TCTM09120 - Decision Making: the tax credits act and tax credits regulations: the tax credits regulations

The primary legislation allows the Board to make secondary or delegated legislation which is used to describe in more detail how tax credits should be calculated, paid and administered. Most tax credits legislation is in the form of regulations. The most common examples of these are the:

Tax Credits (Claims and Notifications) Regulations 2002

Tax Credits (Payment by the Commissioners) Regulations 2002

Working Tax Credit (Entitlement and Maximum Rate) Regulations 2002

Tax Credits (Residence) Regulations 2003

Tax Credits (Immigration) Regulations 2003

Tax Credits (Definition and Calculation of Income) 2002

Tax Credits (Official Error) Regulations 2003

Child Tax Credit Regulations 2002

Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) Regulations 2002

The full text of these regulations can be found at TCTM12000, please note that this list is not exhaustive. Please note the Residence and Immigration Regulations have not yet been added but are scheduled to be added.

Secondary legislation is often used to ‘prescribe’ or provide more detail about how the primary legislation should be applied.

For example

Section 6 of the TCA specifically deals with the notification of a change of circumstances and it says a claimant should notify changes ‘as prescribed’ and that those changes should be notified within a period ‘as prescribed’.

Regulation 21(3) of the Tax Credits Claims and Notifications Regulations then goes on to ‘prescribe’ what changes must be notified and also the period of time the claimant has to notify us of the change (for example within one month);

  1. Requirement to notify changes of circumstances which may decrease the rate at which a person or persons is or are entitled to tax credit or mean that entitlement ceases

3) The time prescribed by this paragraph is the period of one month beginning on the date on which the change of circumstances occurs or (except in the case of paragraph (2)(j))], if later, the period of one month beginning on the date on which the person first becomes aware of the change in circumstances].

for further details see TCTM05100