WTC/CTC reinstatement

Client was receiving WTC/CTC as a lone parent. Her 17 year old left full time education on 4th April and entitlement to both WTC and CTC ended from this date (letter dated 21st June closing claim and issuing overpayment as late declaration of Change of circs). Her son has now registered on another full time non-advanced course due to start September.

While I am exploring grounds to challenge the decision to end the claim this is proving tricky and possible there will not be grounds. Her son did not register with connexions or the careers service for training or work advice so she was not entitled to the 20 week extension,  I am instead looking into whether it would have been reasonable to allow an interruption to education.

In the meantime HMRC have twice told her she can have her WTC/CTC award reinstated anyway on commencement of her son’s new course however I can’t see how this is possible. To receive Tax Credit again without successfully challenging the decision to close the claim,  she would have to make a new claim which would trigger a Universal Credit claim surely? am I missing something?

My concern is she appears to now expect her award to be reinstated as per the advice of HMRC which will leave her in some financial difficulty.

Hi CHC

HMRC’s advice does seem surprising in that case. Assuming she’s not a SDP-protected person or a frontier worker, the other possibility may be that they would treat it as a renewal under Article 7(6) of the WRA Act Commencement No.23 order, which says the provision that prevents new claims “does not apply to a claim for a tax credit where a person is or was entitled to child tax credit or working tax credit in respect of a tax year and that person makes (or is treated as making) a claim for that tax credit for the next tax year.”

However, the concern is that she will be told something different in September and if she actually makes a UC claim in the meantime then it would not be possible to get back to tax credits.

Mark