I've just found out my whole tax credit claim for 3 years is owed back (£6,000)

Surveyor said:
It sounds like they exercised a duty of care to ensure his Tax Credits were correct by sending him forms to complete where he had the opportunity to state any change in his circumstances.

It appears he told them his income was reduced but not that his working hours were less.

The latter can't be assumed from the former.
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I could argue this to the death regarding constructive knowledge in an endless cycle, but to make my life easier, I won't :p
 
Good, because it would show what is wrong with our society.
The box asked if there was any change.
He ignored it when there was a change.
Now they lose the money they should never have got.
There is o gain for the taxpayer here, we're simply taking back money that shouldn't have been given out.
Stupid overcomplex system.

Perhaps, maybe just perhaps the UC system won't be such a slapdash mess.
 
ThundyCat said:
We have the same issue, and have to pay back £2200.00 in over payments on our child tax credits.

For some reason they had me working 60hrs a week and earning nothing!
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I think my mother wins ;)

A good few years ago when I was still in school, she applied for it (it was new and she thought, why not?) didn't really get that much, about 2kish.

End of tax year, apparently she was overpaid by 6k.

So in light of the erroneous mathematics she went to appeal... Denied.

And who said taxes were hard?:D
 
so how does one get working tax credits in the first place? Is it based on hourly wage or something? (I had a look at the HMRC website but that didn't have any info...)
 
Halk that's brilliant!

I didn't think I was eligable for any support given my circumstances but apparently my partner and I could be claiming tax credits on our combined income.

Seems a bit odd to me, we're the least likely candidates to require a tax break (or credit)...
 
Amp34 said:
so how does one get working tax credits in the first place? Is it based on hourly wage or something? (I had a look at the HMRC website but that didn't have any info...)
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What are tax credits?

As a very rough guide, if your annual income is not above one of the following 'limits', you can probably get tax credits:

  • if you have one child it is £26,000
  • if you have two children it is £32,200
  • if you're single without children it is £13,000
  • if you’re in a couple without children it is £18,000
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There's a requirement to be working a certain number of hours a week which varies depending on your circumstances.
 
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Hikari Kisugi said:
Now they lose the money they should never have got.
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Actually I would have received the same amount of money regardless, because I declared my tax credits with the local council I had my housing benefit lowered an equal amount, had I not claimed tax credits I would have just had the extra from the housing department instead, so ultimately I've not really taken any 'extra' money these past years, that's what's annoying, I could have just claimed it as housing benefit instead so really I'll be 6k down.

Also regarding the form like many people that receive the yearly renew pack I rang up to have it completed as it's usually easier, I know it's my fault but had they ever asked me on the phone if my hours had changed I would have told them, I always gave them the correct p60 figures, also I genuinely thought it was a minimum of 16 hours, even in the job centre it's advertised as such but I realise now that they must have been pitching that at parents which at the time was a 16 hour minimum requirement for tax credits.

Either way bankruptcy is looming, should be fun.
 
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I've not seen these forms but isn't there a field that asks how many hours you've worked each year?

or does it just ask for income?
 
I've never looked into working tax credits etc, but am I right after looking through a bit that you can claim WTC if you're single live alone and are over 25?
 
I'm in a similar situation. Currently paying nearly £2.9k back as they under taxed me. This is despite me being PAYE and them assuring me a few years ago that I was on the correct tax rate (I phoned them on several occasions when I thought they had undertaxed me in 2009). They are utterly useless.
 
Panzerbjorn said:
Halk that's brilliant!
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Agreed. :-)

I like to think I'm a fairly practically minded, left-leaning type, but I could never understand how the tax/child credit system got passed into law. I can see the good intentions behind it, but I think it's one of the most inefficient and corrupting things any government has done in recent decades. It's right up there with selling off council houses (without replacing them) as one of the most idiotic decisions ever, in terms of social and financial common sense.

To be honest I'm amazed the system hasn't been scrapped altogether yet... though if it was, a lot of employers would have to pay their workers a decent wage instead of replying on this State subsidy. Instead they've been able to get away with below inflation pay rises for years, allowing the tax system to pick up the slack.

Personally although I don't earn a lot, I've never checked whether I'd qualify for anything. I suspect I wouldn't, but they can't take back what they never gave you. :-)
 
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