CCM11360 - End of Year Issues: No adjustment needed to the claim - making S18 decision

In these cases you will have accepted that the initial claim was correct, however, the award might still need to be revised because of the information in the S17 notice. Typically this will be because the income is different from the figure reported for the purposes of the initial claim. It could be because, although the original claim was correct, there was then a change of circumstances which was not a notifiable change.

In these cases all you need to do at the closure stage is:

• Inform the claimant of your conclusion - see letter below.
• Remove the inhibition signal on NTC, using function Manage Finalisation, and make the S18 decision. Remember that you will need details of the claimant’s actual (or estimated actual, if appropriate) income for the year before you can finalise the entitlement. So if they have not sent in a response to the S17 notice you must obtain the actual income figure as part of your examination. If the claimant(s) supplies an estimated income figure at this stage, your S18 decision will be an interim one, and you should remind the claimant(s) that they will have to supply the final figure by 31/1 of the following year.
• Note TCW.
• Close the office records and retain the papers locally - see CCM8100.

Any overpayment or underpayment will be handled automatically by the NTC system so you do not need to take any action regarding recovering any overpaid credits. However, if you are aware there is likely to be an overpayment you should advise the claimant of this as soon as possible so that the decision notice does not come as a surprise.

The text for your closure letter is as follows:

"I have examined your claim to tax credit for [2003/04] and have concluded that you were entitled to tax credit at the rate of £XXXX.XX] for [2003/04]. You will shortly receive a formal notification of my decision, against which you will have the right of appeal.

[I have decided that you are not entitled to tax credits for [2004/05].] [I have also made a provisional decision on your award of tax credits for [2004/05]. Please note that this does not mean that I have examined, and am satisfied with, your claim for [2004/05]. If I need to ask you for any information relating to your claim for [2004/05] I will write to you again.]

[I have sent a copy of this letter to [name of partner].]

[May I take this opportunity to thank you for your co-operation, which has helped me bring my examination to an end.]"

You should only include the final paragraph if the claimant has given good co-operation.