Determine Effective Date (Info)

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The computer will automatically determine an earlier effective date if, within the 3 month period immediately before the date the claim was received

• A new child is born or responsibility for a child starts in the family

Or

• Claimant 1 or 2 starts a new job after coming off IS / JSA / ESA / PC

Note:ESA start or end dates cannot be earlier than 27/10/2008

Note: Pension Credit (PC) was formally known as Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG). The Income screen in Function CAPTURE APPLICATION still displays a MIG field

A claimant may also request backdating on their claim form, during an interview, by telephone or by letter.

Child Tax Credit ( CTC) will become allowable from the date the child was born or the date the family became responsible for the child or from 3 months prior to the date the claim was received whichever is later.

Working Tax Credit ( WTC) will be allowable from the date they become eligible to WTC or from 3 months prior to the date the claim was received, whichever is later.

If the claimant has provided one or more earlier effective date(s) with their claim, you must enter the earliest effective date in Function CAPTURE APPLICATION when capturing the claim.

If the claimant has not provided a specific earlier effective date, but has stated that they wish their claim to be from an earlier date, you must obtain the date from the claimant.

If you are unable to obtain an earlier effective date from the claimant, then the date the claim was received will be the effective date.

The claim can be from an earlier effective date for any reason where eligibility is proven.

Notes

1. If the claimant is not eligible on the date the claim is back dated to the computer will calculate the earliest effective date and this will become the effective date

2. The above note does not apply to claims received from same sex couples on or after 5 December 2005. Claims made by same sex couples cannot be accepted until 5 December 2005, when the Civil Partnership Act came into force. If you are dealing with a request for backdating on a claim from a same sex couple, you must not enter an effective date earlier than 05/12/2005

3. The date the claim is to be back dated to must not be more than 3 months immediately before the claim was received, except in the following circumstances. A claim for Working Tax Credit can be backdated to

• The date a qualifying disability benefit became payable
   
• 3 months prior to the date the qualifying benefit was claimed

Or

• The date the claimant started employment, whichever is the most recent. This is as long as the tax credits claim is made within 3 months of the decision on the qualifying disability benefit

If the claim is received from an Enquiry Centre, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or the Department For Social Development (DSD) with two official dates stamped on it, you must consider the earliest date as the date of receipt.

You may receive a claim, which failed to be scanned by Rapid Date Capture (RDC) because it did not have enough information. These claims will have a date stamp on them from the RDC scanner. When these claims are received back in the office you must treat the effective date as the date the claim was received back in the office and not the date entered by the RDC scanner.

You may forward date a claim only if it is received within 7 days of an employment starting.

A claim can be backdated for more than 3 months if the claim for WTC including the disability element has been made within 3 months of the decision on a qualifying disability benefit. In these circumstances, the claim for WTC can be backdated to

• The first date that the qualifying benefit was payable
   
• 3 months prior to the date the claim for the qualifying disability benefit was made, if that was later

Or

• The claimant’s employment start date, if that was later