Commentary on Sections Special Rules Affecting Tax Credit and Universal Credit Claimants Section 32: Power to disqualify tax credit claimants from obtaining top-up payments
147.Section 32 allows HMRC to disqualify a person from receiving top-up payments or give them a warning notice if they or their partner make a successful claim for tax credits while they are receiving support under the scheme and the person or the person’s partner (who could be a new partner) makes a declaration of eligibility within 12 months of making the claim for tax credits. A person can only be disqualified if they have been given a warning notice in the last four years.
148.This does not apply if the circumstances of the person or the person’s partner changed after the beginning of the entitlement period in which the tax credits claim was made. Subsection (5) allows for regulations to set out what is, or is not, to be regarded as a change of circumstances for these purposes.
149.A person can only be given a disqualification notice if they have had a warning notice under this section or section 33. A warning notice is defined in subsection (4) as a notice which tells the person that they may receive a disqualification notice if they make a claim for tax credits or universal credit in the same way within a four-year period.