Thankyou for replying. I have never lied to them as such, I just havent notified of a change of circumstances and although I know this is bad do you think that by filling in my declaration honestly and providing all info required, if i wrote a covering letter explaining that I thought my claim would be adjusted following the declaration, and regarding my separation and financial worries then they are less likely to take such a hard line and will therefore not go down the proscecution route? I cant sleep for worrying. Also, I never got a P60 from my employer, is there anyway I can find out my exact earnings for the period from HMRC? Thankyou again

Hello..... So Ive been such an idiot and now im petrified of the outcome. Ive read a few posts on here and I know my situation isnt nearly as dire as some peoples in a similar boat, but I could really use some advice just the same...... So in July last year my sons dad and I split up so I closed out joint claim and set up a new claim as a single person. Moved out of our shared property and into a place with my son. At the time i was working 16 hours and my son was in childcare, which Tax credits were aware of and everything was above board. In August my hours dropped, as trade was poor and my boss was sending me home early and over the following weeks my hours were reducing ridiculously to sometimes 4 hours a week. My boss kept telling me they would pick up until eventually in February this year I left, withdrew my son from childcare (i was still sending him for approx 10 hrs a week for a while, then 5 hours for the last couple of months as he was doing so well, and he has been identified as very bright so I wanted to encourage this development) and signed onto Income Support. I finally called Tax credits and advised them my employment had ended at the end of Feb and that my hours had been variable until then, as I assumed that when i filled my declaration in, with the correct earnings, they would adjust this years award and deduct the overpayment accordingly. I know I should have notified them when my hours had dropped, and not kept claiming the working tax and childcare element for 7 months but after my sons dad and I split up financially it was hard and I have debt from that relationship as he never even had a bank account so I dealt with all financial matters in my name, which has left me liable for the debt we accrued. I have now had a letter saying i have been selected for review and they want to see the contract from my childcare provider and invoices from the period from July 2011 - February 2012. I can provide this but obviously this will show that the childcare was much less. I have filled in my declaration with the correct earnings from the year and obviously they will work out its much less than what i gave as 'estimated' and will see it doesnt match up to 16 hours work a week. Working it out I think it will be a maximum of £4000 I have been overpaid (thats including working tax credit and the childcare element) maybe a little less. Im really not proud of the fact I have obtained money I shouldnt have been entitled to, and the funny thing is I wouldnt have been much worse off if I had have just signed onto income support when my hours dropped. Hindsight eh? Im petrified i will be prosecuted, how common is this? Also Im assuming i will have to pay it back, along with a penalty. How will they recover this? Will they take it from my child tax credit award for this year which is £64 a week? Any advice will be greatly appreciated........ Thankyou.