Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Income Tax (Tax Treatment of Carer Support Payment and Exemption of Social Security Benefits) Regulations 2023 and come into force on 19th November 2023.

(2) In these Regulations, “ ITEPA” means the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003( 3).

Amendments to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003: Scottish carer support payment

2.—(1) ITEPA is amended as follows.

(2) In section 658(4)( 4), after “carer’s allowance supplement,” insert “carer support payment,”.

(3) In section 660(1)( 5), in Table A (taxable UK benefits), at the appropriate place insert—

(4) In section 661(1)( 6), after “carer’s allowance supplement,” insert—

• “carer support payment, ”.

(5) In Schedule 1( 7), in the table in Part 1 (abbreviations of Acts and instruments), at the appropriate place insert—

Amendments to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003: exemption of social security benefits

3.—(1) ITEPA is amended as follows.

(2) In section 677(1)( 9), in Table B (UK social security benefits wholly exempt from tax: Table B)—

(a) in Part 1 (benefits payable under primary legislation and Northern Ireland welfare supplementary payments etc), at the appropriate place insert—

(b) in Part 2 (benefits payable under regulations), at the appropriate place insert—

(c) in Part 2 (benefits payable under regulations), at the appropriate place insert—

(d) in Part 2 (benefits payable under regulations), at the appropriate place insert—

(3) In Schedule 1, in the table in Part 1 (abbreviations of Acts and instruments), at the appropriate places insert—

(4) The amendments made by paragraph (2)(a), (b) and (d) and, so far as relating to those paragraphs, paragraph (3), have effect for the tax year 2019-20 and subsequent tax years.

(5) The amendments made by paragraph (2)(c) and, so far as relating to that paragraph, paragraph (3), have effect for the tax year 2021-22 and subsequent tax years.

Modification to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003: exemption of social security benefit

4.—(1) Chapter 5 of Part 10 of ITEPA (social security income) is modified as follows.

(2) Section 677(1) has effect as if, in Table B (UK social security benefits wholly exempt from tax: Table B), in Part 1 (benefits payable under primary legislation and Northern Ireland welfare supplementary payments etc), at the appropriate place there were inserted—

(3) The modification made by this regulation has effect for the tax year 2023-24 and subsequent tax years.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make amendments and provide for a modification to Part 10 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (c. 1)(“ ITEPA”), so as to provide that the Scottish carer support payment is a social security benefit chargeable to income tax and that no liability to income tax arises on certain other social security benefits specified in the Regulations.

Regulation 2 amends section 660 of ITEPA by inserting a new row into Table A, in order to specify that the Scottish carer support payment (“ CSP”) is a social security benefit chargeable to income tax. It also amends section 661 of ITEPA, which specifies how the amount of taxable social security income from a benefit for a tax year is calculated, by inserting a reference to CSP, and makes a consequential amendment to section 658 of ITEPA. Regulation 2 also makes a consequential amendment to the Table in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to ITEPA to insert an abbreviation for the Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 ( S.S.I. 2023/302).

Regulation 3 amends section 677 of ITEPA by inserting a new row into Part 1 of Table B and three new rows into Part 2 of Table B, in order to wholly exempt from income tax payments to families to provide food and drink free of charge in relation to children eligible for free school meals in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and payments made under the Healthy Start and Scottish Best Start Foods schemes. It also makes consequential amendments to the Table in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to ITEPA by inserting definitions of the abbreviations inserted into Table B in section 677 by regulation 3(2).

Regulation 4 modifies the effect of section 677 of ITEPA in order to wholly exempt from income tax payments made under family network support packages as part of the families first for children pathfinder programme and family networks pilot scheme.

Regulations 3 and 4 are made in exercise of the powers in section 13(1) and 13(2)(b), (c) and (d) of the Finance Act 2020 (c. 14). Section 13(2)(b) provides that regulations made under section 13(1) of that Act may be applied retrospectively. Regulations 3(4) and (5) and regulation 4(3) set out the tax years in relation to which the amendments made by regulation 3 and the modification made by regulation 4, respectively, have effect.

A Tax Information and Impact Note has not been prepared for this instrument as it contains no substantive changes to tax policy.