1. This clause abolishes the widow's bereavement allowance (WBA) for new claimants from 6 April 2000. However, widows already receiving this allowance in respect of deaths occurring before 6 April 2000 will retain their entitlement under the existing rules.

2. The abolition of the WBA is part of a package of reform of income tax reliefs, under which existing allowances are largely abolished and replaced by a new children's tax credit.

________________

3. Sub-section (1) provides that section 262 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act (ICTA) 1988 should be repealed. Section 262 of ICTA 1988 contains the provisions for the widow's bereavement allowance.

4. Sub-section (2) provides that this change shall have effect in relation to deaths occurring on or after 6 April 2000.

5. Sub-section (3) makes a consequential amendment, following from the abolition of the MCA for people aged under 65 on 6 April 2000. It provides that the amount of the WBA available to widows bereaved prior to 6 April 2000 but still entitled to claim the allowance in 2000-01 shall be equivalent to the new minimum amount of MCA for that year as specified by section 257A(5A) of ICTA 1988 (section 257A(5A) will be inserted by clause 28(7) of this Bill).

______________________

6. The WBA is one of the allowances associated with the MCA. The value of the WBA governed by the MCA for people aged under 65. It will be abolished at the same time as is the MCA, which will be abolished by clause 28 of this Bill.

7. The WBA is available to a woman in the year her husband dies, provided she has lived with her husband at some time during that tax year. It is also available in the tax year following her husband's death if she has not remarried before the start of that year.