Calculation Of An Award (Introduction)

This section of the manual sets out the rules for the calculation of tax credit awards.  Once a claim has been captured successfully and passed the eligibility, verification and risk assessment stages of the claim process, the amount of the award will be automatically calculated by the computer.  Where the calculation has been carried out by the computer, results are shown in Function VIEW AWARD CALCULATION.  Use the View Calculation pushbutton on the Award Summary Screen in Function VIEW AWARD to access this screen.  The following rules can be used to understand how the results displayed have been calculated.

In exceptional cases the award calculation has to be done manually.  For further guidance on this see Complex Cases.

Note:  In some complex cases the award calculation rules are slightly different (for example, polygamous marriages).

An initial award is the first award calculation carried out for a  claim.  A revised award is the award calculation carried out when a change of circumstances is notified after a claim has been awarded.  A finalised award is one where a final decision has been made on the award for the year (on completion of finalisation).  The calculation for a finalised award is the same as that for a revised award.

The calculation will

• Establish the award period and entitlement periods within the award

• Establish the maximum amount of each entitlement due for each entitlement period

• Determine if income needs to be taken into account and apply taper rules if necessary

• Establish the total of each tax credit due within each entitlement period

When an award has been calculated, a payment profile is created.