Regulations amended for migration of tax credit claimants to universal credit

The Social Security and Universal Credit (Migration of Tax Credit Claimants and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024 amended several existing instruments with effect from 6 April 2024, according to the amendment notes recorded against each¹. The changes touch the rules for calculating tax credit income, the treatment of student income in universal credit, and payments on account of benefit in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In the Tax Credits (Definition and Calculation of Income) Regulations 2002, the 2024 instrument amended provisions that apply the tax credit income rules to universal credit transitional cases, with the amendment recorded as taking effect on 6 April 2024¹. The 2002 Regulations themselves came into force for claims on 1 August 2002, for awards on 1 January 2003 and for all other purposes on 6 April 2003, and have effect for the tax year beginning 6 April 2003 and subsequent tax years¹. They define "tax year" as a period beginning with 6 April in one year and ending with 5 April in the next¹.

In the Universal Credit Regulations 2013, words in regulation 68(7) were omitted on 1 April 2024 by the 2024 instrument³. Regulation 68 deals with people treated as having student income, and regulation 68(7) contains definitions including "student loan"³. The same instrument also omitted provisions in Part 6 of those Regulations on 1 April 2024⁴. Part 6 covers the calculation of capital and income, including the £16,000 capital limit for instalment payments and the £6,000 and £16,000 thresholds used in the notional capital rules⁴.

The Social Security (Payments on Account of Benefit) Regulations 2013 were amended so that regulation 5(1)(d) was inserted on 1 April 2024². That provision requires that, where a payment on account of benefit is to be on account of universal credit, the person has been allocated a national insurance number². The 2013 Regulations set the minimum budgeting advance at £100, with maximum amounts of £348 for a single person with no children, £464 for a couple with no children and £812 where the person is responsible for a child or qualifying young person². Equivalent Northern Ireland regulations were amended so that regulation 5(1)(d) was inserted on 3 April 2024⁵, with the same national insurance number condition and the same £100 minimum and £348, £464 and £812 maximum budgeting advance amounts⁵.

Why it matters for households

The amendments sit inside the managed migration of tax credit claimants to universal credit. Tax credit claimants who receive a migration notice and move to universal credit have their entitlement calculated under the universal credit rules, including the capital and income rules in Part 6 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 that were amended on 1 April 2024⁴. Transitional protection is available for claimants who move following a migration notice, and the tax credit income definitions continue to apply to certain transitional cases¹.

For universal credit claimants applying for a budgeting advance, the national insurance number condition inserted on 1 April 2024 in Great Britain and 3 April 2024 in Northern Ireland applies to payments on account of universal credit². The published maximum amounts remain £348, £464 and £812 depending on household circumstances, with a £100 minimum². Claimants in Great Britain must generally have been in receipt of benefit for a continuous period of at least six months on the date of application, and must not have earned income above £2,600, or £3,600 jointly for a couple².

What happens next

The amendments took effect on the dates recorded: 1 April 2024 for the Great Britain payments on account and universal credit provisions, 3 April 2024 for the Northern Ireland payments on account provisions, and 6 April 2024 for the tax credit income provisions¹. No further commencement dates are set out in the material.