TCM0064040 - Claims: capture (D-K): effective date - determine (Info)
The computer will automatically determine an earlier effective date if, within the 31 day period immediately before the date the claim was received
- a new child is born or responsibility for a child starts in the family
or - customer 1 or customer 2 starts a new job after coming off Income Support (IS), Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Pension Credit (PC).
Note: ESA start or end dates cannot be earlier than 27/10/2008.
Note: Pension Credit (PC) was previously known as Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). The Income screen in Function CAPTURE APPLICATION still displays a MIG field.
Note: From 6 April 2017, customers will only get the Family Element of Child Tax Credit where they are responsible for a child or children born before that date.
Note: The individual child element of Child Tax Credit will no longer be awarded for third and subsequent children or qualifying young persons in a household, born on or after 6 April 2017, unless it meets the exception criteria.
Note: If you are dealing with a claim where an exception marker has been applied to any of the children/young persons included in the claim or the customer is reporting a change relating to an exception contact the Exception Team (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000) (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000) For how to check if the exception marker has been applied, use TCM1000314.
A customer may also request backdating on their claim form, during an interview, by phone or by letter.
Child Tax Credit (CTC) will become allowable from the date the child was born or the date the family became responsible for the child or from 31 days prior to the date the claim was received, whichever is later.
Working Tax Credit (WTC) will be allowable from the date they become eligible to WTC or from 31 days prior to the date the claim was received, whichever is later.
If the customer has provided one or more earlier effective dates with their claim, you must enter the earliest effective date in Function CAPTURE APPLICATION when capturing the claim.
If the customer has not provided a specific earlier effective date, but has stated that they wish their claim to be from an earlier date, you must obtain the date from the customer.
If you are unable to obtain an earlier effective date from the customer, then the date the claim was received will be the effective date.
The claim can be from an earlier effective date for any reason where eligibility is proven.
Note: If the customer is not eligible on the date the claim is backdated to, the computer will calculate the earliest effective date and this will become the effective date.
Note: The previous note does not apply to claims received from same sex couples on or after 5 December 2005. Claims made by same sex couples cannot be accepted until 5 December 2005, when the Civil Partnership Act came into force. If you are dealing with a request for backdating on a claim from a same sex couple, you must not enter an effective date earlier than 05/12/2005.
Note: The date the claim is to be backdated to must not be more than 31 days immediately before the claim was received, except in the following circumstances. A claim for Working Tax Credit can be backdated to the most recent of
- the date a qualifying disability benefit became payable
- 31 days prior to the date the qualifying benefit was claimed
or - the date the customer started employment, whichever is the most recent.
This is as long as the tax credits claim is made within 31 days of the decision on the qualifying disability benefit.
If the claim is received from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or Department for Communities (DfC) in Northern Ireland with two official dates stamped on it, you must consider the earliest date as the date of receipt.
You may receive a claim, which failed to be scanned by Rapid Date Capture (RDC) because it did not have enough information. These claims will have a date stamp on them from the RDC scanner. When these claims are received back in the office you must treat the effective date as the date the claim was received back in the office and not the date entered by the RDC scanner.
You may forward date a claim only if it is received within seven days of an employment starting.
A claim can be backdated for more than 31 days if the claim for WTC including the disability element has been made within 31 days of the decision on a qualifying disability benefit. In these circumstances, the claim for WTC can be backdated to
- the first date that the qualifying benefit was payable
- 31 days prior to the date the claim for the qualifying disability benefit was made, if that was later
or - the customers employment start date, if that was later.
There is an Action Guide for this subject, select TCM0064060 to access it