Tax Credits Act 2002 section 36D

Section 36C: supplementary

Section 36D provides supplementary rules for how the loss of working tax credit for repeated benefit fraud under section 36C operates, including what happens when convictions are overturned or penalty agreements are withdrawn, how conviction dates are determined, and how previous applications of the restriction are counted.

• If a conviction that triggered a section 36C restriction is later quashed, the claimant must be put back in the position they would have been in had the restriction never been applied — all necessary payments and adjustments must be made.
• Similarly, if a person's agreement to pay a penalty is withdrawn, or the related overpayment is found on appeal not to be recoverable, or the overpayment amount is revised and no new penalty agreement is reached, then all payments and adjustments must be made as though the restriction had never been imposed.
• For the purposes of section 36C, the date of conviction is the date the person was found guilty (not the date of sentencing), and "conviction" includes conditional and absolute discharges as well as convictions in Northern Ireland.
• References to any previous application of section 36C include corresponding provisions in Northern Ireland, but do not include a previous application whose restriction period fell within the same overall disqualification period.