The Housing Benefit (Persons who have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

SECTION 3 Employed earners

Earnings of employed earners

33.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), “ earnings” means in the case of employment as an employed earner, any remuneration or profit derived from that employment and includes—

(a) any bonus or commission;

(b) any payment in lieu of remuneration except any periodic sum paid to a claimant on account of the termination of his employment by reason of redundancy;

(c) any payment in lieu of notice;

(d) any holiday pay;

(e) any payment by way of a retainer;

(f) any payment made by the claimant’s employer in respect of expenses not wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in the performance of the duties of the employment, including any payment made by the claimant’s employer in respect of—

(i) travelling expenses incurred by the claimant between his home and place of employment;

(ii) expenses incurred by the claimant under arrangements made for the care of a member of his family owing to the claimant’s absence from home;

(g) the amount of any payment by way of a non-cash voucher which has been taken into account in the computation of a person’s earnings in accordance with Part V of Schedule 3 to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001(1);

(h) statutory sick pay and statutory maternity pay payable by the employer under the Act;

(i) statutory paternity pay payable under Part XIIZA of the Act;

(j) statutory adoption pay payable under Part XIIZB of the Act;

(k) any sums payable under a contract of service—

(i) for incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, or

(ii) by reason of pregnancy or confinement;

(l) any payment made under the legislation of, or under any scheme operating in, the Republic of Ireland which is analogous to income to which sub-paragraphs (h) to (j) relate.

(2) Earnings shall not include—

(a) subject to paragraph (3), any payment in kind;

(b) any payment in respect of expenses wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred in the performance of the duties of the employment;

(c) any occupational pension;

(d) any payment of compensation made pursuant to an award by an employment tribunal in respect of unfair dismissal or unlawful discrimination.

(3) Paragraph (2)(a) shall not apply in respect of any non-cash voucher referred to in paragraph (1)(g).

Calculation of net earnings of employed earners

34.—(1) For the purposes of regulation 28, the earnings of a claimant derived or likely to be derived from employment as an employed earner to be taken into account shall, subject to regulation 31(5) and Schedule 5, be his net earnings.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) net earnings shall, except in relation to any payment to which regulation 31(5) refers, be calculated by taking into account the gross earnings of the claimant from that employment over the assessment period, less—

(a) any amount deducted from those earnings by way of—

(i) income tax;

(ii) primary Class 1 contributions under the Act;

(b) one half of any sum paid by the claimant by way of a contribution towards an occupational pension scheme;

(c) one half of the amount calculated in accordance with paragraph (4) in respect of any qualifying contribution payable by the claimant; and

(d) where those earnings include a payment which is payable under any statute of the Parliament of the United Kingdom extending solely to Great Britain and which corresponds to statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay or statutory adoption pay, any amount deducted from those earnings by way of any contributions which are payable under any statute of the Parliament of the United Kingdom extending solely to Great Britain and which correspond to primary Class 1 contributions under the Act.

(3) In this regulation “qualifying contribution” means any sum which is payable periodically as a contribution towards a personal pension scheme.

(4) The amount in respect of any qualifying contribution shall be calculated by multiplying the daily amount of the qualifying contribution by the number equal to the number of days in the assessment period; and for the purposes of this regulation the daily amount of the qualifying contribution shall be determined—

(a) where the qualifying contribution is payable monthly, by multiplying the amount of the qualifying contribution by 12 and dividing the product by 365;

(b) in any other case, by dividing the amount of the qualifying contribution by the number equal to the number of days in the period to which the qualifying contribution relates.

(5) Where the earnings of a claimant are determined under regulation 31(2)(b), his net earnings shall be calculated by taking into account those earnings over the assessment period, less—

(a) an amount in respect of income tax equivalent to an amount calculated by applying to those earnings the lower rate or, as the case may be, the lower rate and the basic rate of tax applicable to the assessment period less only the personal relief to which the claimant is entitled under section 257(1) of the Taxes Act(2) (personal allowance) as is appropriate to his circumstances but, if the assessment period is less than a year, the earnings to which the lower rate of tax is to be applied and the amount of the personal relief deductible under this sub-paragraph shall be calculated on a pro-rata basis;

(b) an amount equivalent to the amount of the primary Class 1 contributions that would be payable by him under the Act in respect of those earnings if such contributions were payable; and

(c) one half of any sum which would be payable by the claimant by way of a contribution towards an occupational or personal pension scheme, if the earnings so estimated were actual earnings.

(6) Where the claimant is an employed earner in the Republic of Ireland the amounts to be deducted for income tax and primary Class 1 contributions under this regulation shall be such amounts as, in the opinion of the appropriate authority, would have been deducted had the claimant been employed in Northern Ireland.

(1)

S.I. 2001/1004

(2)

Section 257 was substituted by section 33 of the Finance Act 1988 (c. 39)