Commentary on Sections Part 1: Tax Credits Section 3: Claims
42.Section 3 contains the main provisions about claims to tax credits. Entitlement to a tax credit will depend on making a claim for it, and where the Board decide not to make an award or to terminate an award any entitlement or subsequent entitlement for the same year is dependent on the making of a new claim (subsections (1) and (2)). Claimants must be aged at least 16 and be in the United Kingdom (subsection (3)). Regulations may set out the circumstances in which someone is to be treated as being, or not being, in the United Kingdom, for example, to allow for temporary absences on holiday (subsection (7)).
43.Claims may be made jointly by married or unmarried couples, or by individuals who would not be entitled to make a claim as part of a couple (subsection (3)). Entitlement to a tax credit comes to an end if a couple who have made a joint claim stop being entitled to make such a claim (that is, they separate) or an individual who has made a single claim becomes part of a couple and stops being entitled to make a single claim (subsection (4)). For the purposes of this Part, the definition of “married couple” follows that used for income tax and means any married couple in which the partners are neither formally separated nor separated and likely to remain so permanently (subsection (5)). An “unmarried couple” is defined as a man and a woman living together as husband and wife (subsection (6)). Individual claimants make a “single claim”, and couples make a “joint claim” for tax credits.