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21st August 2006, 20:11
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#2 (permalink)
| | Platinum Account Customer
I am in: <---- over there
Posts: 1,310
| Re: Child Tax Credit Overpayments Just in case anyone is considering making an appeal, some things to remember:
For your appeal to be successful, short of trying to shame them into giving you the money by threatening the use of MPs and press (those with a legitimiate case should stay in touch), the general rule is that you won't have to pay it back or lose entitlement in future years if you can demonstrate that you had "good reason to believe the payments were correct". This means you have exercised due diligence, and can prove it.
The reason they say "good reason" is that they do not expect you to know what you were entitled to, only to go to reasonable lengths before satisfying yourself that what they tell you is correct. Put simply, don't blindly assume everything is correct. They do not know how much to assess, you have to tell them. Compliance section runs checks against P14s (if your company uses standard multi-parts, your P60 comes off the back of the P14), but there are various deductions that you might be entitled to that the P14 wouldn't tell them about.
Note that it is not enough to simply say "We had good reason to believe payments were correct". You have to be able to demonstrate this. It is not a reasonable to assume the government will always get things right - there is a human element involved, and humans are prone to failure.
Things that will count towards "good reason" are (not exhaustive): - You checked all the award notices, and found no errors in the circumstances - therefore you assumed the calculated figure was correct (this is a reasonable assumption to make).
- You checked the notices, found errors, and reported them promptly (responsibility of the sender ends with Royal Mail, so proof of posting should do).
- You didn't receive your renewal paperwork, called/wrote to HMRC and were told you didn't need to file any.
If you have corresponded with HMRC frequently and can produce this, then you can imply that had their been an error, it would have been picked up on, or that you have pointed out their mistakes more than once. If you have done at least the above, your appeal should succeed without issue.
The following by themselves will typically not count towards "good reason": - You assumed that the figures you were told were correct without checking your circumstances on your notice.
- Your payments changed, you queried it on the phone, were told it was correct, and left it at that.
- You "didn't receive" the relevant award notice. (as before, it's their responsibility to send it, not to ensure it is received)
- You were told there was a system error affecting your claim (you can still appeal on other grounds - see below)
- You posted your renewal paperwork close to the deadline (you will have had anything up to 5-6 months to return it)
- You didn't receive your renewal paperwork, and assumed you didn't need any.
Several of the above will actually make your appeal less likely to succeed, as they may portray you as careless.
Note that if you are told that there is a system error preventing them from maintaining your claim correctly, you do not have good reason to believe payments are correct (as you have been told that they are not). In these cases, you will be instead be appealing the overpayment on the grounds of official error. In most cases of system errors, there will be notes on your record from someone who has tried to correct it and failed - I would imagine they would be taken into account without the need for you to issue a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to see them first.
Remember, the system may be broken, but you have to at least make an effort to work around it. |
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27th September 2006, 15:37
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#4 (permalink)
| | Basic Account Customer
I am in: Yorkshire
Posts: 20
| Re: Child Tax Credit Overpayments Urggg I hate the tax credit people, they have messed me up more times than I can count in the last 2 years.
Michfergie - if you get a copy of your husbands P60 for tax year 2000/01 it will have his earnings for the year on. This should be proof of his earnings for that year and you can foward a copy to the tax credit office.
I hope you get yours sorted, mine is just starting to get messy AGAIN! |
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23rd December 2006, 19:57
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#7 (permalink)
| | Classic Account Customer
I am in: ;) if i have helped in anyway then please! click the scales ↑
Posts: 368
| Re: Child Tax Credit Overpayments usefull info bump |
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14th January 2007, 01:17
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#10 (permalink)
| | Basic Account Customer
I am in: Newport Wales
Posts: 131
| Re: Child Tax Credit Overpayments Do you mean how long you've got to pay it back?
If you're continuing to be eligible to tax credits, they will take it out of next years credits ie they will be reduced
If you can't manage when they do this you can always phone them and claim harship, and ask for the amount being collected to be reduced (can't guarantee they will do this - depends on your circs)
If you hae no further entitlement to tax crdits and have to pay it back directly, they send you a demand which gives you details. There is a number of the bottom of this you can call.
If you can't pay , you can either ring them or go into yur local tax enquiry centre and ask for an 'arrangement to pay'.
They should the put you in touch with the Receivables side of the Department who can arrange for and interview and you agree a payment plan between you.
I used to work or the Tax Enquiry centre myself and we saw lots of messed up claims. |
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16th January 2007, 01:21
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#12 (permalink)
| | Basic Account Customer
I am in: Newport Wales
Posts: 131
| Re: Child Tax Credit Overpayments this is from their appeals leaflet. Is there a time limit? Yes. You have 30 days from the date of the notice to make your appeal in writing. After that the notice is normally final and cannot be changed. Can the time limit be extended?
Yes, but only if you can satisfy us that there were special reasons for the delay, and that you will raise the matter as soon as possible.
If we are not satisfied with your explanation then a legally qualified panel member at the Appeals Service will consider your application. They will look at your reasons for appealing late and decide whether to accept your appeal. Their decision is final.
We will not accept any appeal more than 13 months after the date on your notice under any circumstances. Website is www.hmrc/gov/uk
Go into the site and click tax credits. I found his on the leaflets link. You could also look at a COP 26 which is a booklet explainin what hapens when tax credits are overpaid.
Good luck!! |
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3rd February 2007, 23:40
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#13 (permalink)
| | Basic Account Customer | Re: Child Tax Credit Overpayments Hi
Regarding Tax Credit Overpayments, there is no right of appeal, so any appeal against it will be rejected for that very reason. It's a bit like going into Curry's and complaining because the loaf of bread you bought at Tesco wasn't fresh. No-one is disputing that it wasn't fresh, but you have to follow the correct process to get your money back ie go to Tesco's. I hope that doesn't sound too patronising, but there is a lot of confusion over this process, and I find that's a good way to remember it. You need to dispute the overpayment with a COP26. You can ring the helpline to get one.
You need to detail as accurately as you can why you think you should not pay back the money. Remember, when you do this that HMRC contact centres have full records of all calls, which are also recorded. They will listen to every one if necessary. For example it is no use stating that on every call you made in 2004 you gave correct P60 information if it's not true. It can easily be checked.
However....HMRC, although getting much much better, has made mistakes in the past and if you genuinely feel that you should not repay an overpayment as you did everything you were expected to, and any overpayment was not your fault, then of course you must dispute it. It is a relatively painless process and each case is judged on it's own merits.
Get a COP26 - and good luck
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4th February 2007, 12:54
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#15 (permalink)
| | Basic Account Customer | Re: Child Tax Credit Overpayments I think we are just talking about terminology here. There is no right of appeal against an overpayment - you must dispute it.
You can appeal against awards though, if you feel they have been calulated incorrectly - that is a different matter.
You might be able to guess who I work for. Please don't appeal an overpayment. Your appeal will be either rejected, or your dispute will be delayed while the right process is followed. Please make sure you dispute any overpayments using a COP26.
If you follow the right process in the first place, you are more likely to get a good result. Mistakes have been made in the past, and where you have been paid too much through no fault of your own, and if that is the case you absolutely must dispute this. As the posting before me states, she was able to prove that, and was successful in not having to pay back her overpayment.
There is no time limit when disputing an overpayment( there is a time limit with appeals), but you should do it as soon as you are aware that you have been overpaid for a certain tax year.
But, please, if you are going to dispute an overpayment get a COP26 and follow the right process.
Once again - good luck |
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10th February 2007, 20:07
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#16 (permalink)
| | Classic Account Customer
I am in: South Wales
Posts: 155
| Re: Child Tax Credit Overpayments Hi We had our Child Tax Credits stopped after April 2006 and not had a penny from them since, this is due to overpayments made. The year 2004/2005 as i do not work as i have a son with special needs, my hubbys earnings for that year was just over £18k, so we were receiving approx £58 a week of CTC, we also have another son too. My hubbys earnings had risen for the year 2005/2006 (not due to a pay rise-but due to the working hours changing from a 40 hr a week to 12 hour shifts), but were changing every few weeks. I had informed CTC of this and all they said was wait for the yearly annual forms to come through as this will be sorted out then. Anyhow when my hubby received his yearly p60 the wages for the year was approx £24K, but since then the hours had gone down again !! We had sent off the form, and the next few weeks we were informed that due to the overpayments, we will not get anything until April 2007 in which then they will take off the overpayments then. If they had taken note of when we informed them of the changes then this could of been avoided, but we both informed them only to be told to wait for the forms !! In the meantime my son has been finally diagnosed with special needs, with mild autism and learning difficulties, and i was advised of putting in a claim for Disability Living Allowance (DLA), as he has to have 24/7 supervision even though he is gone 12 yrs old, as he will not go with anyone else this is full time for me. Due to this I have been told that i need to contact CTC as we would be entitled to extra for my son for having special needs. I did contact CTC, and have informed them of my hubbys wages being lower this year, approx £6K lower, and said that i am awaiting a decision too from DLA which can take a few weeks yet. So now before they do anything i have to wait for the decision. My older son who is 18 is in full time further education in which they are also aware of this, but even his Education maintainance allowance went from £30 down to £20 a week. So we have all lost big time really. Especially with not having a penny from CTC since last May 2006 as we assumed we would at least get something and thought it was approx £50k or more not to qualify. Will be very grateful to hear from anyone that has been in more or less the same situation. Many thanks. Di |
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