CCM11400 - End of Year Issues: Insufficient information to make a decision

We are obliged to make a decision on the claimant’s entitlement to tax credit for a year once they have either:

• received the claimant’s confirmation / declaration; or
• the date specified in the notice for a response has passed.

Before making that decision, we may require the claimant(s) to provide further information. S18(10) says:

"….the Board may by notice require the person, or either or both of the persons, towhom the notice was given to provide any further information or evidence which theBoard consider they may need…."

Response held to the S17 notice

Where there has been a response to the S17 notice (see CCM11335) but you consider you do not have sufficient information to make a decision, you should either telephone the claimant(s) or write to them to say that you need further information before you can make your decision on their entitlement for the year. It might be that you will need to meet the claimant to discuss the situation.

If you need to write, the text of your letter will depend on whether or not you have already issued a formal information notice under S15(2) or S16(3). If so, you should refer to it. If not, you should refer to the letter / meeting at which you asked for the information. If the claimant(s) has only partially responded to the S17 notice, you should refer to it in your letter, explaining what information you now need.

If the claimant co-operates with your request for further information you can follow the guidance at CCM11350 regarding making your S18 decision. If they do not co-operate you will have to consider using formal powers to bring the examination to an end - see CCM11410.

No response to the S17 notice

If the claimant has not responded to the S17 notice (see CCM11335) and you still have information outstanding from your examination you should continue to pursue the outstanding details. If you have previously issued a formal information notice under S15(2) or S16(3) you could consider penalty action for the failure to comply with the notice. However, this will not normally be worthwhile since you will still not be able to make a decision until there has been a response to the S17 notice.

Alternatively, where there has been no response to the S17 notice you could, in theory, request all of the outstanding information (including the S17 details) under S18(10) and pursue penalties if there is no reply. However, in most cases this will not be an appropriate course of action. You still cannot make a S18 decision until there has been a response to the S17 notice or you reach the first specified date, see CCM11045. If you have not received a response to the S17 notice and you think it is worth making a formal request for the information you should consult the Claimant Compliance SO Policy and Standards Manager before taking any further action.