Social Security Legislation 2025/26 Volume IV: HMRC-Administered Social Security Benefits and Scotland

HMRC-administered Social Security Benefits and Scotland is Volume IV of the 2025/26 edition of the series Social Security Legislation. The text includes all relevant statutory material, as in force on April 7, 2025, with commentary taking account of decisions of the courts and of the Upper Tribunal (and of the former Social Security Commissioners). Tables of cases and a comprehensive index are included to assist the reader.

This volume covers:

• Tax credits
• Child benefit and guardian’s allowances
• Statutory sick pay
• Statutory maternity pay and statutory paternity pay
• Statutory adoption pay and statutory shared parental pay
• Statutory shared parental bereavement pay
• Neonatal care pay
• Child trust funds
• Tax-free childcare payments
• Free childcare for working parents
• Scottish social security benefits and tribunals

HMRC administered social security schemes are of vital importance to many people. Child benefit is paid to over 7 million families in respect of some 12 million children. Childcare payments also assist hundreds of thousands of families to pay for childcare. Statutory sick pay (SSP), statutory maternity pay (SMP), statutory paternity pay (SPP), statutory adoption pay (SAP), statutory shared parental pay (ShPP), statutory shared parental bereavement pay and neonatal care pay are all benefits partly administered by HMRC but paid by employers to those employees who are on leave due to illness, injury or family responsibilities. This is also the last volume in this series to include the legislation relating to working tax credit (WTC) and child tax credit (CTC), as all remaining tax credit awards were terminated in April 2025.

Also placed in this volume is Scottish legislation governing the expanding Scottish social security system, notably that covering both child disability payment and adult disability payment. These are important benefits, replacing respectively disability living allowance for children living in Scotland and personal independence payment for adults living in Scotland. Tribunals dealing with appeals in relation to Scottish social security benefits are also covered.

Throughout the volume, the usual myriad miscellaneous amendments made over the past year to both the primary and the secondary legislation have been incorporated. Amendments to the commentary include references to, and analysis of, important Upper Tribunal decisions and decisions of the courts.

The editorial team has brought its academic and practical expertise and knowledge of both social security and tax appeals to produce a guide that will be essential reading for tribunal judges, members and staff, solicitors, welfare rights advisers, accountants, personal tax advisers and students.