§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a person is eligible for working 145W families tax credit, when reapplying, if their average weekly hours worked falls below the 16 hour threshold as a result of the person taking two weeks' paid leave. [77820]
§ Dawn PrimaroloIf average weekly hours worked fall below the 16 hour threshold, then a person is not eligible to claim WFTC. Where a person has a "recognised cycle of work" then any periods of paid leave are omitted from the calculation of average hours worked.
Where there is no "recognised period of work" then the actual hours worked in the five weeks preceding the date of claim are used to calculate eligibility. Longer periods of time preceding the week of the claim may be looked at if this enables the person's average weekly hours to be determined more accurately.
§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to simplify the claim form for working families tax credit; and if he will make a statement. [79230]
§ Ruth KellyFrom April 2003 Working Families' Tax Credit (WFTC), Disabled Person's Tax Credit (DPTC) and Children's Tax Credit will be replaced by Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.
The forms for claiming the current tax credits are being replaced by one new form.
Filling in the form is a one-off exercise to get people into the new system. Renewal forms will include much of the information already provided by the claimant(s), so people will only have to update or confirm their circumstances and report their last year's income, rather than fill in a form starting from scratch.