Exceptions to the limiting of the individual child element of child tax credit and universal credit to a maximum of two children

While LITRG do not generally comment on rates or levels of taxation or of welfare benefits, and we do not make any representations here about whether it is right in principle to limit support provided by the tax credits and universal credit systems in the way indicated, we do think that if the rationale for the policy is about choice, then it is important that those without some element of choice are exempt from the limit in all cases. While the exceptions set-out in the consultation cover some of the possible scenarios, we believe there is a strong case for having a general exception that applies where it would be unreasonable for the two child limit to apply and we would fully support such an approach. In addition, we have several concerns about the practical implementation of the proposed exceptions and how they will be communicated to people.