header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
24 May 2012
Issue: 7515 / Categories: Case law , Law reports , In Court
printer mail-detail

Social security—Child tax credit—No-splitting rule

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Humphreys v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2012] UKSC 18, [2012] All ER (D) 124 (May)

Supreme Court, Lord Walker, Lady Hale, Lord Clarke, Lord Wilson and Lord Reed SCJJ, 16 May 2012

The provisions of the Child Tax Credit Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2007) (the regulations), providing that the payment of child tax credit in respect of a child in shared care by two parents is to be made to the parent with main responsibility for the child, is a reasonable rule for the state to adopt and the indirect sex-discrimination in favour of women is justified.

Richard Drabble QC and Sasha Blackmore (instructed by Ford Simey LLP) for the father. Jason Copple and Katherine Eddy (instructed by HMRC) for the Revenue.

Child tax credit (CTC) was introduced by the Tax Credits Act 2002 and was payable to one person only in respect of each child, even where the care of the child was shared between separated parents. The regulations, as amended, provided that the payment of CTC

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires

NLJ Career Profile: Nikki Bowker, Devonshires

Nikki Bowker, head of litigation and dispute resolution at Devonshires, on career resilience, diversity in law and channelling Elle Woods when the pressure is on

Ellisons—Sarah Osborne

Ellisons—Sarah Osborne

Leasehold enfranchisement specialist joins residential property team

DWF—Chris Air

DWF—Chris Air

Firm strengthens commercial team in Manchester with partner appointment

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Conditional job offers carry hidden risks for employers
A simple phrase like ‘subject to references’ may not protect employers as much as they think. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, analyses recent employment cases showing how conditional job offers can still create binding contracts
NLJ this week: Diamond rings and broken promises

An engagement ring may symbolise romance, but the courts remain decidedly practical about who keeps it after a split, writes Mark Pawlowski, barrister and professor emeritus of property law at the University of Greenwich, in this week's NLJ

NLJ this week: FCA enforcement embraces ‘quality over quantity’
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has become ‘a very different organisation’ under its new enforcement leadership, writes James Tyler, of counsel at Peters & Peters LLP, in the latest issue of NLJ
NLJ this week: When post-breach events rewrite damages claims
Contract damages are usually assessed at the date of breach—but not always. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Gascoigne, knowledge lawyer at LexisNexis, examines the growing body of cases where courts have allowed later events to reshape compensation
King sets out Starmer’s legislative agenda
The government will aim to pass legislation banning leasehold for new flats and capping ground rent, introducing non-compulsory digital ID and creating a ‘duty of candour’ for public servants (also known as the Hillsborough law) in the next Parliament
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll