Any experts on Tax Credits????

turtle3

turtle3

turtle3

Associate
Joined
16 Jul 2005
Posts
1,143
Location
snodland
Hi guys,, looking for some advice here, im a bit stuck and know nothing about this :confused:

Does anyone here understand Tax Credits?? Just recieved a letter from inland revenue stating I have to pay back £2500 because we have been overpayed :eek: TBH i have absolutely no understanding of how all this works, I recieved a Tax credit application about the time my son was born (2003) so filled it in and sent it off. I heard about all the horror stories of people being paid too much and having huge overpayment debts, so I have always kept the inland revenue informed about changes in circumstances, like when my wife started more hours at work I phoned and told them and the guy on the other end of the phone said '' thats fine we dont really need to know that as she is still working for the same employer'',, I myself have been out of work for the past two years and on incapacity benefit as I had to have my colon removed so there has been no change in my income.. I ws looking forward to starting a new job next year and making a fresh start, but now ive got a £2500 debt to pay before I even start. I have been told I can dispute this.. is it worth it :confused:

thanks
 
turtle3 said:
Hi guys,, looking for some advice here, im a bit stuck and know nothing about this :confused:

Does anyone here understand Tax Credits?? Just recieved a letter from inland revenue stating I have to pay back £2500 because we have been overpayed :eek: TBH i have absolutely no understanding of how all this works, I recieved a Tax credit application about the time my son was born (2003) so filled it in and sent it off. I heard about all the horror stories of people being paid too much and having huge overpayment debts, so I have always kept the inland revenue informed about changes in circumstances, like when my wife started more hours at work I phoned and told them and the guy on the other end of the phone said '' thats fine we dont really need to know that as she is still working for the same employer'',, I myself have been out of work for the past two years and on incapacity benefit as I had to have my colon removed so there has been no change in my income.. I ws looking forward to starting a new job next year and making a fresh start, but now ive got a £2500 debt to pay before I even start. I have been told I can dispute this.. is it worth it :confused:

thanks
Click to expand...

fight it all the way dude,
sometimes when you show that you can put up a fight for it they will back down, it was THEIR mistake for over paying you.
 
Phone them, they won't want it all in a lump sum. We were in the same situation, they underpaid us one year then overpaid us the last year.

For us they just reduced the monthly payment they sent us to cover the overpayment.

Definately give thema ring anyway and good luck.
 
wyrdo said:
Phone them, they won't want it all in a lump sum. We were in the same situation, they underpaid us one year then overpaid us the last year.

For us they just reduced the monthly payment they sent us to cover the overpayment.

Definately give thema ring anyway and good luck.
Click to expand...


Cheers,, I had just got off the phone and your right,, The lady said that we would still be getting £144 tax credit every month and they would take a percentage of that back, she said about £60 but could not guarantee this. The problem is next year if I go back to work then the debt would go over to me as tax credits would stop, so id still have £2000 left to pay myself :( I asked her how they managed to overpay us so much and she said there was a change in my wifes income which there was. I am still a bit confused though as i am sure I told them within a month or two of my wife starting more hours at work, Where my wife works (a residential home) she never really knows what hours shes gonna get each week as its depending on how much care the old poeple need and this varies each week ( you know how old people have ups and downs) I asked her if it was worth disputing and she kind of clammed up and didnt know what to say, but she is sending a claim form..... I wont be holding my breath though...
 
That doesn't sound right to me. To overpay you by £2500 when they only pay you £144 a month would mean that everything you've had from them for about 17 months was paid in error. ALL of it. That simply doesn't seem likely.

I think you need to head to the Citizens advice bureau. The tax credit people look like they've got that massively wrong.
 
VIRII said:
That doesn't sound right to me. To overpay you by £2500 when they only pay you £144 a month would mean that everything you've had from them for about 17 months was paid in error. ALL of it. That simply doesn't seem likely.

I think you need to head to the Citizens advice bureau. The tax credit people look like they've got that massively wrong.
Click to expand...


Yeah im totaly lost on this one I think ill have to dig out last years tax credit forms and find out exactly what they were paying, I know my wife was getting working credit and also child tax credit paid to her every month or so but not sure of the exact amounts, the money was never in her bank long enough for her to notice the amount and time of payments...

Is it possible to ask the inland revenue for exact details of amount and times the payment were made and what we should have been getting as opposed to what they had been paying?? I really should have been more organised about this but as I have had a bad couple of years in and out hospital it was the last thing on my mind,,, kind of wish I hadnt bothered claiming for it in the first place now :(

Thanks for the input guys
 
turtle3 said:
Cheers,, I had just got off the phone and your right,, The lady said that we would still be getting £144 tax credit every month and they would take a percentage of that back, she said about £60 but could not guarantee this. The problem is next year if I go back to work then the debt would go over to me as tax credits would stop, so id still have £2000 left to pay myself :( I asked her how they managed to overpay us so much and she said there was a change in my wifes income which there was. I am still a bit confused though as i am sure I told them within a month or two of my wife starting more hours at work, Where my wife works (a residential home) she never really knows what hours shes gonna get each week as its depending on how much care the old poeple need and this varies each week ( you know how old people have ups and downs) I asked her if it was worth disputing and she kind of clammed up and didnt know what to say, but she is sending a claim form..... I wont be holding my breath though...
Click to expand...

if you notifyed them then its THEIR FAULT for overpaying you, and tbh they should suck it up.

my mums been working with some people how where over paid like this, I'll see what they did
 
turtle3 said:
Is it possible to ask the inland revenue for exact details of amount and times the payment were made and what we should have been getting as opposed to what they had been paying?? I really should have been more organised about this but as I have had a bad couple of years in and out hospital it was the last thing on my mind,,, kind of wish I hadnt bothered claiming for it in the first place now :(

Thanks for the input guys
Click to expand...

Ask the tax credits people for a statement of what they think that they have paid you and what they think that they should have paid you. What do they think that your wife earnt, what do they think that you earnt, how many kids do they think that you have got?

Then you've got a decent starting point.

The cash goes straight into the bank so you can get the bank to confirm what was received.

Don't pay anything yet, but do establish all the facts. How much was paid to you. How much do they think they paid you. What were you really entitled to?
Once you know that we'll be better placed to help you.
 
VeNT said:
if you notifyed them then its THEIR FAULT for overpaying you, and tbh they should suck it up.

my mums been working with some people how where over paid like this, I'll see what they did
Click to expand...


Thanks mate,, im still trying to think back in regard to when my wife started more hours and the time it took me to notify them,, the last years all a bit hazy to me but im sure I told them the right figures, I definately know I filled in the end of year review packs correctly as I used the wifes p60 and also when they had sent me the letters asking for notification any change of circumstances which came in between the end of year reviews I phoned them and told them her hours again, so at the very worst there could only be a six month delay in them adjusting the tax credits and surely that wouldnt have come to £2500 :eek:

This is really getting me down at the moment, The lady said if we dispute this then they will hold back taking the money we owe, but at the end of the day its still a major worry in the back of my mind.. Typically every time it looks like were getting somewhere we get knocked down again :(
 
turtle3 said:
Thanks mate thats great ill get mine and the wifes income details together later and see what it comes up with, at least ill have san idea of what we should have been getting :)
Click to expand...

If you're right about getting £150 a month off them then I don't think that there is ANY way that you owe them £2500 back. Just no way.

Once you've got the facts together head down the CAB, they've got proper experts in this area.
 
My parents were over paid by about £3k (lump sum) when they messed it up and for some reason thought my parents had seperated and my mum was supporting 2 children on her own. (This was definitely not the case)

They phoned them up immediately and the IR refused to accept a cheque for the error and said to put the money in a high interest account and that they'd just not pay them any tax credits until the amount was made up.

To make an unnoticable (to you) error like that and then ask for the money back is a bit harsh though, with my parent's lump sum it was obvious that there was a mistake but yours seems somewhat less noticable :(
 
I work in tax credits and if you think it is wrong it is always worth disputing.

I don't have a lot of confidence in the call centres myself, if you have a local Inland Revenue then it might be worth popping in and sitting down with someone who can get to the bottom of it there and then.

There is a lot of advice on tax credits and such on the messageboards at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com as well.
 
davestar_delux said:
I work in tax credits and if you think it is wrong it is always worth disputing.

I don't have a lot of confidence in the call centres myself, if you have a local Inland Revenue then it might be worth popping in and sitting down with someone who can get to the bottom of it there and then.

There is a lot of advice on tax credits and such on the messageboards at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com as well.
Click to expand...

agreed, i also work in tax credits, if you believe that the overpayment was not your fault, request a COP26 which is our overpayment dispute form to lodge a dispute. then tax credit office will write back with there decision stating exactly how much and how much is to be repaid and whos fault it was, of course you need to write on the form your reasons why you dont think you've been overpayed
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom