Income Changes (AG)

To deal with a change to a claimant or partner’s income figure, consider steps 1 to 20 below. The guide is presented as follows

Initial action	Step 1
Establish whether two claimant family	Step 2
Establish whether all income is provided for each claimant	Step 3
Establish if claimant or partner has joined a salary sacrifice scheme	Steps 4 - 5
Establish whether all required information is available	Steps 6 – 7
Telephone claimant	Step 8
Issue form TC849	Steps 9 – 10
Complete Household notes	Step 11
Establish the correct income details	Step 12
Set a BF date	Step 13
Send file to TAL	Step 14
Apply changes	Steps 15 – 19
Send to storage	Step 20

Initial action

1	Before making any income changes, follow the guidance in Establish If A Change Can Be Made to establish if the change can be made Then, if the change(s) can be made Go to step 2

Establish whether two claimant family

2	Check the guidance in Action To Take Before Processing A Claim Or A Work Item Then, if you can process the change Use Function VIEW APPLICATION and go to the Application Summary screen to establish whether the claim is a single or joint claim Go to step 3

Establish whether all income is provided for each claimant

Has the claimant told us that they have joined a salary sacrifice scheme

Yes, go to step 4
No
If all the details for the change in income have

Been provided for each claimant, go to step 6

Not been provided for each claimant

Make a note of which claimant's details are missing

And then

Go to step 6

Establish if claimant or partner has joined a salary sacrifice scheme

Note: If the salary sacrifice scheme is for childcare vouchers or for a nursery place paid for by the employer this reduces the relevant employment income figure for tax credits as the value of these benefits is not included as income

If

Any childcare costs are paid for by the employer, do not include them. Go to step 6
The claimant has joined any other salary sacrifice scheme, go to step 5

Has the claimant provided all the information required, this is

The contract variation for the claimant who has joined the scheme

Note: If there is more than one scheme we need the contract variation for each scheme

The original contract of employment
Two payslips, one before and one after the variation
The agreement between the employer and the benefit provider
All other documents relevant to the scheme, for example any booklets / leaflets given to the claimant as a guide

Yes, go to step 14

No, go to step 10

Establish whether all required information is available

In Function VIEW APPLICATION

Select 'Navigation' from the toolbar menu
Select 'Income' from the options available and go to the Income Details screen
Select the Previous Year ( PY) from the Income Years field drop down menu

Then

Have income details been provided for all of the income types populated in the previous year?

Yes, go to step 7

No, make a note of which income types are missing and then go to step 7

Check whether the claimant has stated that the new income details they have provided are for the whole of the tax year. If the new income details are

Not for the whole of the tax year, go to step 8
For the whole of the tax year. Do you have all the information necessary to apply the change?

No, go to step 8

Yes, go to step 15

Telephone claimant

Contact the claimant by telephone for the missing information you need

Follow the guidance in Contacting The Claimant

If you can contact the claimant by telephone, go to step 12
If you are unable to contact the claimant by telephone or you cannot obtain the claimants telephone number, go to step 9

Issue form TC849

Complete and issue form TC849(GB) or TC849(NI), as appropriate to the claimant asking them to confirm their CY estimated income

Go to step 11

Send a letter to the claimant, using a blank LFC, asking that they send you further supporting documentation. The documents they need to supply are

The contract variation for the claimant who has joined the scheme

Note: If there is more than one scheme we need the contract variation for each scheme

The original contract of employment
Two payslips, one before and one after the variation
The agreement between the employer and the benefit provider
All other documents relevant to the scheme, for example any booklets / leaflets given to the claimant as a guide

Then

Go to step 14

Complete Household Notes

Use

Function MAINTAIN HOUSEHOLD NOTES to enter the appropriate message for the action you have taken, if the claim is post award

Or

Function CAPTURE APPLICATION and go to the Summary Information screen to enter the appropriate message for the action you have taken in the Application Notes field, if the claim is pre award

For income details, enter the appropriate message between NC26 and NC35

Or

For other details, enter the appropriate message between NC81 and NC90

Notes:
You must follow the guidance in How To Correctly Complete Application And Household Notes when you record the note

And also

Follow the guidance in Maintain Household Notes, if the claim is post award

Or

Follow the guidance in Application Notes, if the claim is pre award

Then

Go to step 15

Establish the correct income details

Establish the correct income details with the claimant by obtaining each of the following

Income for each claimant in a two claimant family
Income for each PY income field which was populated

And

Confirmation that the new income figure provided is for the whole of the tax year
Ask the claimant to send in all the relevant documents about their salary sacrifice scheme. They are

The contract variation for the claimant who has joined the scheme

Note: If there is more than one scheme we need the contract variation for each scheme

The original contract of employment

Two payslips, one before and one after the variation

The agreement between the employer and the benefit provider

All other documents relevant to the scheme, for example any booklets / leaflets given to the claimant as a guide

If a claimant(s) CY income increases by £25,000 or less, compared to their PY income, this will not affect their CY payments. However, the reported increase must still be applied to the system as it could have an effect on their provisional payments for the next year. You should

Remind them that even though the increase will not affect their current award they should check subsequent award notices as their payments for the following year may well be affected

Then

If the claimant asks you how do they work out their current year income? Follow the guidance in Calculation Of Income

Is the claimant able to provide all of the required CY income figures

Yes, go to step 15

No, advise the claimant that you are unable to apply any changes unless all the required information is provided. And ask them to contact us again once they are able to supply all of the information

Then

Go to step 13

Set a BF date

13	Set a BF Date of 28 days in the future If the claimant has provided all the information by the action date, go to step 14 If the claimant has not provided all the information by the action date, go to step 20

Send file to TAL

Send a file containing all the salary sacrifice information to Technical Advice Line

(This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)

BF the claim for 4 weeks

Then

Once the file is returned to you with instructions on how to deal with the claim, go to step 15

Apply changes

15	Use Function AMEND APPLICATION and For CY income select the change of circumstances option If you are presented with the free format screen, go to step 16 If the Applicant Details screen is displayed, go to step 17 For PY income select the correction option If the Applicant Details screen is displayed, go to step 17 If you are prompted to make your correction within Capture Application, click ‘yes’ and then go to step 18
16	If the confirmation dialogue box window, ‘Details must be recorded on the Free Format screen. Do you wish to proceed?’, appears Click on the [Yes] button. You will be taken to the Free Format screen. On this screen enter either Single claim Income change received DD/MM/YYYY CY income for (insert type of income)= £xx.xx, if the claim is for a 1 claimant family Joint claim Income change received DD/MM/YYYY App 1 CY income for (insert type of income)= £xx.xx. App 2 CY income for (insert type of income)= £xx.xx, if the claim is for a 2 claimant family Then Click on the [OK] button. This will create an entry on the ‘Unprocessed Change of Circumstances’ worklist when the claim has been fully processed Then Use Function CAPTURE APPLICATION and record details of the action taken in Application Notes field on the Summary Information screen Note:If the claimant(s) have more than one type of income, you must enter details for each type of income in the Free Format screen. Do not enter as a total amount
17	On the Applicant Details screen navigate to the Income screen Enter income details for the appropriate tax year in the earnings field. Enter income for both claimants in a joint claim If the income given is Estimated select status [E] from the drop down box Or Actual select status [A] from the drop down box Click on the [OK] button The Amend Finish screen will appear, go to step 19 Notes: If the [OK] button is not available, make the changes on the Income screen and then navigate to another screen and click on the [OK] button on that screen If one claimant, in a two-claimant family, uses their CY income, you must find out the other claimant’s CY income. You must ensure that the CY income fields are completed for both claimants. Where the CY income for one of the claimants is nil, you must enter £0.00. Do not leave the field blank Claimant estimated income for CY must always be entered selecting the Estimated [E] status There may already be System Estimated [S] figure(s) held on the computer. These must be updated with the estimated figures supplied by the claimant You must always confirm the correct estimated figures for any CY fields that are populated. Do not leave a mix of statuses on the computer where there are system-estimated figures. CY income must not contain a mix of [S] and [E] statuses If you are correcting an income amount, which was captured in error, for example entered within the self-employed income fields instead of the earnings income fields. Delete the amount that was entered in error, returning it to a 'blank' field, do not replace the figure with zero. Then enter the amount in the correct field, selecting the appropriate status
18	On the Applicant Details screen navigate to the Income screen Click on the estimated or actual check box as appropriate within the ‘Income Figures’ field Enter earnings in the ‘Income Details’ field. Enter income for both claimants in a joint claim Click ‘Sm’ on the toolbar and enter the following message within ‘Application Notes’ 'NC28 – COC (insert details) PY inc updated as Actual. Corre rec (DD/MM/YY) from (source)' Go to step 19
19	On the Amend Finish screen Enter the date the notification of the change was received Enter the source of the change, for example paper Enter the reason for the change as, a change of circumstance Then Click on the [OK] button. The computer will now automatically accept the change of circumstances and will apply the change at the effective date Follow the guidance in How To Correctly Complete The Amend Finish Screen Note: The changes you have made in this function will not be applied until you complete the Amend Finish screen and click on the [OK] button If the message ‘S18 Refinalisation Rules – Potential inappropriate refinalisation for CCYY–CCYY. If you have the authority to refinalise under S19, S20 or S21 of the Tax Credit Act 2002 or due to an appeal decision. Press OK to process the change or Cancel’ displays The changes you are making will re-finalise the claim, follow the guidance in Establish If A Change Can Be Made before making any changes Then, if you can make the change Click on the [OK] button on the message Go to step 20 If the message ‘S18 Refinalisation Rules – Actual Income for CCYY-CCYY is required. This change will not be accepted’ displays You will not be able to make the change because the PY actual income is required, follow the guidance in Establish If A Change Can Be Made before making any changes Then, if you can make the change Click on the [OK] button on the message Go to step 20 If the message ‘S18 Refinalisation Rules – You do not have the authority to refinalise CCYY-CCYY. This change will not be accepted. Please refer to the appropriate team’ displays The changes you are making will refinalise the claim Click on the [Cancel] button. You will be taken to the Amend Application Details screen Click on the [Cancel] button When the message ‘All changes to the application will be lost for this session, do you wish to proceed?’ displays, click on the [Yes] button Pass the case to a Level 2 User or your manager. For more information on Level 1 and Level 2 users, see Level 1 and Level 2 User Roles Take no further action If none of the above messages display, go to step 20

Send to storage

Send any paper correspondence to storage

Follow the guidance in Preparing And Sending Documents For Storage

Then

Record the action you have taken in Household Notes

Notes:

You must follow the guidance in How To Correctly Complete Application And Household Notes when you record the note

And also

Follow the guidance in Maintain Household Notes, if the claim is post award

Or

Follow the guidance in Application Notes, if the claim is pre award

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