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TCM0132360 | Miscellaneous (A to B): Income limits - award notice and auto-renewal notice (Info)

From HM Revenue & Customs · Tax Credits Manual

An important feature of the award calculation are the income limit amounts that are calculated so that

  • award notices can give customers an indication of the Current Year (CY) income levels that will increase or reduce their CY award and so they can report this as a change of circumstances

  • customers selected for auto-renewal can also be advised on their renewal notice, and reminded on subsequent award notices of the income levels for previous years that would increase or reduce their Previous Year (PY) or CY award. These are known as ‘End Of Year’ income limits.

There are ‘Upper’ and ‘Lower’ income limits.

  • An upper limit will be calculated where higher income can reduce the award. This means the award is not already reduced to nil.

  • A lower limit will be calculated where lower income can increase the award. This means that the award is not already at the maximum rate for the family circumstances.

The income amounts will not be calculated if one of the customers is entitled to Income Support (IS), income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA(IB)), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA(IR)), Pension Credit (PC) throughout the award period. This is because the income taper rules do not apply and all entitlement amounts calculated are due in full.

Income limits will be updated each time the award for Current Year is recalculated. They will not be calculated once the year is a PY and customers have notified their actual or estimated income for that year in response to a renewal notice to finalise that year.

End Of Year income limits for a PY will be updated each time the award for that year or the next is recalculated. They will not be calculated once the customers have notified their actual or estimated income for that year in response to a renewal notice to finalise that year.

Note: The income levels stated on the award notice are not legislative and only aim to offer a general guide to customers about how great a change in income needs to be before they should consider notifying you with their current year income details.