The Social Security (State Pension Age Claimants: Closure of Tax Credits) (Amendment) Regulations 2024

Closure of tax credits - claimants not moving to universal credit

3.—(1) The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 32 and Savings and Transitional Provisions) Order 2019(1) is amended as follows.

(2) In article 1 (citation and interpretation) insert at the appropriate place—

““migration notice” means a notice under regulation 44 (migration notice) of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014(2) or a notice under regulation 45 (migration notice) of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016(3);”;

““notified person” means a person to whom a notice has been issued under article 3A (tax credit closure notice);”;

““state pension credit” means state pension credit under the State Pension Credit Act 2002(4) or the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002(5);”.

(3) In article 3 (savings) in paragraph (1) at the beginning insert “Subject to articles 3A (tax credit closure notice) and 3B (saving to cease following issue of tax credit closure notice),”.

(4) After article 3 insert—

“Tax credit closure notice

3A.— (1) The Secretary of State (or, in Northern Ireland, the Department) may, at any time, issue a notice (“a tax credit closure notice”) to—

(a) a person who is entitled to an award of child tax credit, but not an award of working tax credit, and is—

(i) a single person who has reached the qualifying age;

(ii) a member of a couple both members of which have reached that age; or

(iii) a member of a protected mixed-age couple; or

(b) a person who is entitled to both an award of a tax credit and an award of state pension credit,

informing the person that their tax credit award is to end by a specified day (“the deadline day”).

(2) The tax credit closure notice may contain such other information as the Secretary of State or the Department considers appropriate.

(3) The deadline day must not, subject to paragraph (4), be within the period of three months beginning with the day on which the tax credit closure notice is issued.

(4) The deadline day may be within such shorter period as the Secretary of State or the Department considers appropriate where—

(a) the person is entitled to an award of state pension credit when the tax credit closure notice is issued; or

(b) the tax credit closure notice is issued after cancellation of a previous tax credit closure notice or after cancellation of a migration notice issued to that person.

(5) If the tax credit award is to joint claimants the Secretary of State or the Department must issue a tax credit closure notice to each claimant.

(6) The Secretary of State or the Department may determine that the deadline day should be changed to a later day either—

(a) on the Secretary of State’s or the Department’s own initiative; or

(b) if the notified person requests such a change before the deadline day,

if there is a good reason to do so.

(7) Where the Secretary of State or the Department changes the deadline day in accordance with paragraph (6) they must inform the notified person or persons of the new deadline day.

(8) The Secretary of State or the Department may cancel a tax credit closure notice issued to any person—

(a) if it has been issued in error;

(b) in any other circumstances where the Secretary State or the Department considers it necessary to do so in the interests of the person, or any class of person, or to safeguard the efficient administration of state pension credit.

(9) In a case referred to in paragraph (8)(a) the Secretary of State or the Department may, instead of cancelling the tax credit closure notice, treat that notice as if it were a migration notice issued to that person and as if the deadline day in the tax credit closure notice were the deadline day in a migration notice.

(10) In this article—

“the Department” means the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland;

“protected mixed-age couple” means a mixed-age couple to whom article 4 (savings) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 31 and Savings and Transitional Provisions and Commencement No. 21 and 23 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2019(6) or article 4 (savings) of the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 (Commencement No. 13 and Savings and Transitional Provisions and Commencement No. 8 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2019(7) applies,

and the reference in paragraph (1) to a person who is entitled to a tax credit includes a person who is treated as being so entitled by virtue of regulation 11(1) (ongoing awards of tax credits) of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 or regulation 9(1) (ongoing awards of tax credits) of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016.

Saving to cease following issue of tax credit closure notice

3B.— (1) Paragraph (1) of article 3 (savings) shall cease to apply to a notified person in relation to any of the cases mentioned in that article on—

(a) where the person makes a claim for state pension credit on or before the deadline day, the day on which the claim is made (or if, in the case of joint tax credit claimants there is more than one such claim, the day on which the first claim is made); or

(b) in any other case, the deadline day.

(2) Where article 3 ceases to apply in relation to an award of a tax credit in accordance with this article during a tax year, the amount of the tax credit to which the person is entitled for that tax year is to be calculated in accordance with the Tax Credits Act 2002 and regulations made under that Act as modified by Schedule 1 (modification of tax credits legislation (finalisation of tax credits)) to the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 or Schedule 1 (modification of tax credits legislation (finalisation of tax credits)) to the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 in the same way as if—

(a) the claim for state pension credit had been a claim for universal credit; or

(b) the deadline day in the tax credit closure notice had been the deadline day in a migration notice.”.

(1)

S.I. 2019/167 (C. 6).

(2)

S.I. 2014/1230. Regulation 44 was inserted by S.I. 2019/1152 and amended by S.I. 2022/752.

(3)

S.R. 2016 No. 226. Regulation 45 was inserted by S.R. 2019 No. 152.

(4)

2002 c. 16.

(5)

2002 c. 14 (N.I.).

(6)

S.I. 2019/37 (C. 1), as amended by 2004 c. 33.

(7)

S.R. 2019 No. 4 (C. 1).