TCM0022340 - Backdating: backdating (all): refugees - backdating (Info)

Where a customer claimed asylum as a refugee and has therefore been excluded from tax credits as a person subject to immigration control but

  • is then notified that they have been recorded as a refugee by the Home Office
    and
  • they apply for tax credits within one month of receiving that notification
    then
  • they will be treated as having made a claim for tax credits for the whole of the period from the date of the original claim for asylum up to the date the actual claim for tax credits is made, including for any intervening years.

Note: Prior to 06-04-2012 customers needed to apply for tax credits within three months of receiving their notification of refugee status from the Home Office.

Entitlement is determined as if the person had been a refugee from the date the claim to asylum was made. This means

  • they should be treated as a person who is not subject to immigration control from the date they claimed asylum
    and, it also means
  • the rules for couples will apply from that date, so that, in practice, neither partner would be treated as being subject to immigration control.

Note: If the claim is for Working Tax Credit (WTC) only and one customer in a joint claim is subject to immigration control, the couple are not entitled to the second adult element of WTC

Example 1

A customer claims asylum as a refugee on 25-06-2012 and is granted refugee status on 10-10-2012. The customer applies for tax credits (that is, within one month) on 01-11-2012. The claim for tax credits is treated as being made on the date the customer claimed asylum (25-06-2012).

Example 2

A customer claims asylum as a refugee on 23-11-2010 and is granted refugee status on 02-04-2012. The customer applies for tax credits (that is, within one month) on 13-04-2012. The claim for tax credits is treated as being made on the date the customer claimed asylum (23-11-2010). Because entitlement is backdated over more than one tax year, entitlement will be calculated as follows

  • 23-11-2010 to 05-04-2011
  • 06-04-2011 to 05-04-2012
  • 06-04-2012 to onwards.

The amount of any tax credits due is reduced by the amount of any support already provided under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, except to the extent that any backdated income support paid has already been reduced to take that support into account.