Well, been to CAB this morning and nothing more to report. Fella was helpful & knowledgable but basically said what everyone else has said. Can't really do much until we hear from HMRC. Lost 7lbs this week so there is definately a positive to all of this!!! He doesn't seem to think there will be a prosecution, but you just never know. Trying to stay as positive as possible for now.

It is the waiting that is the hardest. I just wish I knew what they were going to do!!!

Great - thanks for that.

not showing up on my screen - sorry!

Really??? Can u supply further details? How much was owing? What did they accept? Was court needed?

Thanks Estellyn. I really hope that that is what the outcome will be. Really hope that paying £1,000 per month back for the next 4 years will be accepted without further issues. I still need to know what they say I owe them. I have only had the initial letter from them telling me they are investigating so hopfully I am preempting any potential issues. I feel so stupid!!!

No they have written to me..."We received a letter last week stating that they were investigating as their records showed that we received a dividend payout of £16,666 for yr ending April 2012. TBH, I do not know where that figure has come from as Business year End report shows £25,000." I put this in the first post. Had they not written to me about it I would have continued to claim the benefits as I was unaware that we had to disclose dividends, and therefore wasn't aware we were doing anything wrong! I wrongly assumed we went solely off P60. I know it sounds stupid in hindsight!!!!

Yeah thanks. And you too HB. It is nice to know there are people out there that want to help!!!

Thanks for that. Is it likely that they will take me to court? With running a well known business in the area I am massively concerned that publishing info would have a negative impact on future work. I have worked out that if they would accept payment over a 4 year period I would be able to just about cope, as long as there is no negative impact on the business. If court action was pursued, the ability to pay back over 4 years would be massively affected! Also, how do I convince them that it was a genuine mistake - I am sure that is what everyone says!!! All our council tax etc is always paid on time, and from business point of view the same applies to Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE etc. Would they take that into account before deciding to prosecute, or would they just view that as a completely unrelated matter?

Does anyone know how long the maximum length of time is to pay back overpayments to HMRC? I am assuming it will be close to £40,000 which terrifies me, but if I was able to pay over 5-10 years we could probably manage. PLEASE HELP

Thanks for your words of comfort! That is exactly what my wife has been saying - its easier said than done though! Would appreciate any other comments from anyone in a similar position or a position to help!

It is family tax credit and working tax credit that I am worried about. It has been a genuine error on our part(I bet everyone says that!) but have worked out that over the last 4 years we have received almost £45,000 in tax credits. We are going to see CAB on Friday. Should we get the house on the market or speak to a solicitor? Or do we wait until we know what HMRC are going to do? Seriously petrified now.

The more I read the more worried I am getting. Am I going to prison???

Hi all and thanks in advance for reading. I sent up a ltd company almost 10 years ago. I was paying myself £600/month and claiming approx £8,500 working tax / child tax credits each year. We now have 3 children aged 13,9 & 4. My wife was in part time employment earning a similar amount to me. We never drew any dividends at all. Then we started making money. The dividends we drew were as follows... 2008 - £2,000, 2009 - £16,000, 2010 - £18,000, 2011 - £20,000, 2012-£25,000. My wife started working for the business 2 years ago and is paid £610/month. I was convinced that we did not have to make HMRC aware of the dividends as the tax etc had been paid on these amounts through the business in the appropriate manner. The business pays corporation tax & VAT and has always paid everything on time. We have always advised HMRC of all the changes in salary for my wife, and also whenever we paid for childcare and also when it was subsequently cancelled. It is just the non-divulging of the dividends that is the problem. We received a letter last week stating that they were investigating as their records showed that we received a dividend payout of £16,666 for yr ending April 2012. TBH, I do not know where that figure has come from as Business year End report shows £25,000. I am terrified. As mentioned, for some reason I was convinced we didn't have to tell them about the dividends - I wrongly assumed we went off our P60s. I know that I was misguided. What will happen? How much am I likely going to have to pay back? Will my details become public knowledge - It would have a massive impact on my business if I am charged as a benefit fraud, as that is really what I am, whether it was intentional or not. Can't eat or sleep. I have an appointment with CAB on Friday, but wondered if anyone out there could help before then.