Welfare Reform Act 2012

Calculation of capital and income

4 (1) Regulations may for any purpose of this Part provide for the calculation or estimation of—

(a) a person’s capital,

(b) a person’s earned and unearned income, and

(c) a person’s earned and unearned income in respect of an assessment period.

(2) Regulations under sub-paragraph (1)(c) may include provision for the calculation to be made by reference to an average over a period, which need not include the assessment period concerned.

(3) Regulations under sub-paragraph (1) may—

(a) specify circumstances in which a person is to be treated as having or not having capital or earned or unearned income;

(b) specify circumstances in which income is to be treated as capital or capital as earned income or unearned income;

(c) specify circumstances in which unearned income is to be treated as earned, or earned income as unearned;

(d) provide that a person’s capital is to be treated as yielding income at a prescribed rate;

(e) provide that the capital or income of one member of a couple is to be treated as that of the other member.

(4) Regulations under sub-paragraph (3)(a) may in particular provide that persons of a prescribed description are to be treated as having a prescribed minimum level of earned income.

(5) In the case of joint claimants the income and capital of the joint claimants includes (subject to sub-paragraph (6)) the separate income and capital of each of them.

(6) Regulations may specify circumstances in which capital and income of either of joint claimants is to be disregarded in calculating their joint capital and income.