The Working Tax Credit (Entitlement and Maximum Rate) Regulations 2002

Entitlement to basic element of Working Tax Credit: qualifying remunerative workU.K.

4.—(1) Subject to the qualification in paragraph (2), a person shall be treated as engaged in qualifying remunerative work if, and only if, he satisfies all of the following conditions [F1(and in the case of the Second condition, one of the variations in that condition)].

• First condition

  The person [F2is employed or self-employed and]—

  (a)

  is working at the date of the claim; or

  (b)

  has an offer of work which he has accepted at the date of the claim and the work is expected to commence within 7 days of the making of the claim.

  In relation to a case falling within sub-paragraph (b) of this condition, references in the second third and fourth conditions below to work which the person undertakes are to be construed as references to the work which the person will undertake when it commences.

  In such a case the person is only to be treated as being in qualifying remunerative work when he begins the work referred to in that sub-paragraph.

• Second condition

  [F3First variation: In the case of a single claim, the person—]

  (a)

  [F4is aged at least 16 and—

  (i)

  undertakes work for not less than 16 hours per week,

  (ii)

  F5... is responsible for a child or qualifying young person, or he has a physical or mental disability which puts him at a disadvantage in getting a job and satisfies regulation 9(1)(c),]

  (b)

  F6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  (c)

  is aged at least 25 and undertakes not less than 30 hours work per week F7...[F8; or

  (d)

  is aged at least 60 and undertakes not less than 16 hours work per week]

  [F9Second variation: In the case of a joint claim where neither person is responsible for a child or qualifying young person, the person—

  (a)

  is aged at least 16 and undertakes work for not less than 16 hours per week and has a physical or mental disability which puts that person at a disadvantage in getting a job and satisfies regulation 9(1)(c);

  (b)

  is aged at least 25 and undertakes work for not less than 30 hours per week; or

  (c)

  is aged at least 60 and undertakes work for not less than 16 hours per week.

  Third variation: In the case of a joint claim where a person or that person’s partner is responsible for a child or qualifying young person, the person—

  (a)

  is aged at least 16 and is a member of a couple where at least one partner undertakes work for not less than 16 hours per week and the aggregate number of hours for which the couple undertake work is not less than 24 hours per week;

  (b)

  is aged at least 16 and undertakes work for not less than 16 hours per week and has a physical or mental disability which puts that person at a disadvantage in getting a job and satisfies regulation 9(1)(c);

  (c)

  is aged at least 16 and undertakes work for not less than 16 hours per week and that person’s partner is—

  (i)

  incapacitated and satisfies any of the circumstances in [F10regulation 13(4) to (12)]; or

  (ii)

  an in-patient in hospital; or

  (iii)

  in prison (whether serving a custodial sentence or remanded in custody awaiting trial or sentence); or

  (iv)

  entitled to carer’s allowance under section 70 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992; [F11or]

  (v)

  [F12entitled to carer’s assistance given in accordance with regulations made under section 28 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018;]

  (d)

  is aged at least 60 and undertakes work for not less than 16 hours per week.]

• Third condition

  The work which the person undertakes is expected to continue for at least 4 weeks after the making of the claim or, in a case falling within sub-paragraph (b) of the first condition, after the work starts.

• Fourth condition

  The work is done for payment or in expectation of payment.

  F13...

  [F14A social security benefit is not payment for the purposes of satisfying this condition.]

[F15(1A) For the purposes of interpretation of paragraph (1)—

(a)paragraphs (3) and (4) provide the method of determining the number of hours of qualifying remunerative work that a person undertakes;

(b)regulations 5, 5A, 6 and 7A and 7B apply in relation to periods of absence from work connected with childbirth or adoption, sickness, strike periods or suspension from work;

F16(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(d)regulation 7D applies where a person or, in the case of a joint claim, one or both persons cease to work or reduce their hours to the extent that they no longer satisfy the Second condition in paragraph (1);

F17(da). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(e)regulation 8 applies where there is a gap between jobs;

(f)regulation 9 prescribes the conditions which must be satisfied by, or exist in relation to, a person so that he is to be treated as having a physical or mental disability which puts him at a disadvantage in getting a job.]

(2) A person who would otherwise satisfy the conditions in paragraph (1) shall not be regarded as engaged in qualifying remunerative work to the extent that he is—

(a)engaged by a charitable or voluntary organisation, or is a volunteer, if the only payment received by him or due to be paid to him is a payment by way of expenses which falls to be disregarded under item 1 in Table 7 in regulation 19 of the Tax Credits (Definition and Calculation of Income) Regulations 2002;

(b)engaged in caring for a person who is not a member of his household but is temporarily residing with him if the only payment made to him for providing that care is disregarded income by virtue of item 3 or 4 in Table 8 in regulation 19 of the Tax Credits (Definition and Calculation of Income) Regulations 2002;

(c)engaged on a scheme for which a training allowance is being paid;

(d)participating in the Intensive Activity Period specified in regulation 75(1)(a)(iv) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996M1or the Preparation for Employment Programme specified in regulation 75(1)(a)(v) of the Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996M2;

(e)engaged in an activity in respect of which—

(i)a sports award has been made, or is to be made, to him, and

(ii)no other payment is made, or is expected to be made, to him; or

(f)participating in an employment zone programme, that is to say a programme established for one or more areas designated pursuant to section 60 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999M3, and subject to [F18the Employment Zones Regulations 2003 and the Employment Zones (Allocation to Contractors) Pilot Regulations 2005] if he receives no payments under that programme other than—

(i)discretionary payments disregarded in the calculation of a claimant’s income under item 6(b) in [F19Table 6] in regulation 19 of the Tax Credits (Definition and Calculation of Income) Regulations 2002; or

(ii)training premiums.

[F20This is subject to the following qualification.]

[F21(g)a person who—

(i)is serving a custodial sentence or has been remanded in custody awaiting trial or sentence, and

(ii)is engaged in work (whether inside or outside a prison) while he is serving the sentence or remanded in custody.]

[F22(2A) Neither sub-paragraph (c) nor sub-paragraph (d) of paragraph (2) applies if—

(a)in a case falling within sub-paragraph (c), the training allowance, or

(b)in a case falling within sub-paragraph (d), any payment made by the Secretary of State, or, in Northern Ireland, by the Department for [F23Communities], in connection with the Intensive Activity Period,

is chargeable to income tax as the profits of a trade, profession or vocation.]

(3) The number of hours for which a person undertakes qualifying remunerative work is—

(a)in the case of an apprentice, employee or office-holder the number of hours of such work which he normally performs—

(i)under the contract of service or of apprenticeship under which he is employed; or

(ii)in the office in which he is employed;

(b)in the case of an agency worker, the number of hours in respect of which remuneration is normally paid to him by an employment agency with whom he has a contract of employment; or

(c)in the case of a person who is self-employed, the number of hours he normally performs for payment or in expectation of payment.

This is subject to the following qualification.

(4) In reckoning the number of hours of qualifying remunerative work which a person normally undertakes—

(a)any period of customary or paid holiday, F24...

(b)any time allowed for meals or refreshment, unless the person is, or expects to be paid earnings in respect of that time, F25...

[F26(c)any period of absence from work due to taking emergency volunteering leave under Schedule 7 to the Coronavirus Act 2020,] [F27and]

[F28(d)any period of absence from work resulting from that person—

(i)having been instructed by NHS Test and Trace, to self-isolate due to coronavirus; or

(ii)having been instructed not to attend work as a direct consequence of restrictions imposed under any enactment as a consequence of coronavirus.]

shall be disregarded.

[F29(5) In reckoning the number of hours of qualifying remunerative work which a person normally undertakes, any time allowed for visits to a hospital, clinic or other establishment for the purpose only of treating or monitoring the person’s disability shall be included; but only if the person is, or expects to be, paid in respect of that time.]

[F30(6) In this regulation “work” shall be construed as a reference to any work that the person undertakes whether as a person who is employed or self-employed or both.]

[F31(7) In this regulation “NHS Test and Trace” means the service introduced by the National Health Service in England to trace the spread of coronavirus or any service established in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland for a similar purpose.]