2023 No. 1148
INCOME TAX

The Income Tax (Tax Treatment of Carer Support Payment and Exemption of Social Security Benefits) Regulations 2023

Made
Laid before the House of Commons
Coming into force
The Treasury make these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 13(1) and (2)(b), (c) and (d) of the Finance Act 20201 and section 27(1) and (4)(b) of the Finance (No. 2) Act 20232.

Citation, commencement and interpretation1.

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Income Tax (Tax Treatment of Carer Support Payment and Exemption of Social Security Benefits) Regulations 2023 and come into force on 19th November 2023.

(2)

In these Regulations, “ITEPA” means the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 20033.

Amendments to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003: Scottish carer support payment2.

(1)

ITEPA is amended as follows.

(2)

In section 658(4)4, after “carer’s allowance supplement,” insert “carer support payment,”.

(3)

In section 660(1)5, in Table A (taxable UK benefits), at the appropriate place insert—

“Carer support payment

CA(CSP)(S)R 2023

Regulation 3”.

(4)

In section 661(1)6, after “carer’s allowance supplement,” insert—

  • “carer support payment,”.

(5)

In Schedule 17, in the table in Part 1 (abbreviations of Acts and instruments), at the appropriate place insert—

“CA(CSP)(S)R 2023

The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 8

Amendments to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003: exemption of social security benefits3.

(1)

ITEPA is amended as follows.

(2)

In section 677(1)9, in Table B (UK social security benefits wholly exempt from tax: Table B)—

(a)

in Part 1 (benefits payable under primary legislation and Northern Ireland welfare supplementary payments etc), at the appropriate place insert—
“Payments to secure the provision of food and drink, free of charge, to a person to whom a school lunch must be provided under section 53(2) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 10, Article 58 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 11, section 512(3) of the Education Act 1996 12 or Article 15(2) of the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 13

SW(S)A 1968

Section 12

C(S)A 1995

Section 22

LGSA 2003

Section 20

GOWA 2006

Section 60

FPA(NI) 2009

Section 4

LGE(W)A 2021

Section 24”;

(b)

in Part 2 (benefits payable under regulations), at the appropriate place insert—

“Payments made under the Best Start Foods scheme

SSA 1988

Section 13”;

(c)

in Part 2 (benefits payable under regulations), at the appropriate place insert—

“Payments made under the Healthy Start scheme

SSA 1988

Section 13”;

(d)

in Part 2 (benefits payable under regulations), at the appropriate place insert—

“Payments to secure the provision of food and drink, free of charge, to a person to whom a school lunch must be provided under Article 58 of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 or Article 15(2) of the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997

FAA(NI) 2009

Section 2”.

(3)

In Schedule 1, in the table in Part 1 (abbreviations of Acts and instruments), at the appropriate places insert—

“SW(S)A 1968

The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 14

“SSA 1988

The Social Security Act 1988 15

“C(S)A 1995

The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 16

“LGSA 2003

The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 17

“GOWA 2006

The Government of Wales Act 2006 18

“FAA(NI) 2009

The Financial Assistance Act (Northern Ireland) 2009 19

“FPA(NI) 2009

The Financial Provisions Act (Northern Ireland) 2009 20

“LGE(W)A 2021

The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 21

(4)

The amendments made by paragraph (2)(a), (b) and (d) and, so far as relating to those paragraphs, paragraph (3), have effect for the tax year 2019-20 and subsequent tax years.

(5)

The amendments made by paragraph (2)(c) and, so far as relating to that paragraph, paragraph (3), have effect for the tax year 2021-22 and subsequent tax years.

Modification to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003: exemption of social security benefit4.

(1)

Chapter 5 of Part 10 of ITEPA (social security income) is modified as follows.

(2)

Section 677(1) has effect as if, in Table B (UK social security benefits wholly exempt from tax: Table B), in Part 1 (benefits payable under primary legislation and Northern Ireland welfare supplementary payments etc), at the appropriate place there were inserted—
“Payments made under family network support packages as part of the families first for children pathfinder programme and the family networks pilot scheme 22
Children Act 1989 23

Section 17”.

(3)

The modification made by this regulation has effect for the tax year 2023-24 and subsequent tax years.

Andrew Stephenson
Steve Double
Two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury
Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make amendments and provide for a modification to Part 10 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (c. 1) (“ITEPA”), so as to provide that the Scottish carer support payment is a social security benefit chargeable to income tax and that no liability to income tax arises on certain other social security benefits specified in the Regulations.

Regulation 2 amends section 660 of ITEPA by inserting a new row into Table A, in order to specify that the Scottish carer support payment (“CSP”) is a social security benefit chargeable to income tax. It also amends section 661 of ITEPA, which specifies how the amount of taxable social security income from a benefit for a tax year is calculated, by inserting a reference to CSP, and makes a consequential amendment to section 658 of ITEPA. Regulation 2 also makes a consequential amendment to the Table in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to ITEPA to insert an abbreviation for the Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/302).

Regulation 3 amends section 677 of ITEPA by inserting a new row into Part 1 of Table B and three new rows into Part 2 of Table B, in order to wholly exempt from income tax payments to families to provide food and drink free of charge in relation to children eligible for free school meals in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and payments made under the Healthy Start and Scottish Best Start Foods schemes. It also makes consequential amendments to the Table in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to ITEPA by inserting definitions of the abbreviations inserted into Table B in section 677 by regulation 3(2).

Regulation 4 modifies the effect of section 677 of ITEPA in order to wholly exempt from income tax payments made under family network support packages as part of the families first for children pathfinder programme and family networks pilot scheme.

Regulations 3 and 4 are made in exercise of the powers in section 13(1) and 13(2)(b), (c) and (d) of the Finance Act 2020 (c. 14). Section 13(2)(b) provides that regulations made under section 13(1) of that Act may be applied retrospectively. Regulations 3(4) and (5) and regulation 4(3) set out the tax years in relation to which the amendments made by regulation 3 and the modification made by regulation 4, respectively, have effect.

A Tax Information and Impact Note has not been prepared for this instrument as it contains no substantive changes to tax policy.