Child Tax Credit Overpayments

[noomill060]

From The Times

September 3, 2007

 

 

Cashback for parents in tax credits fiasco

 

 

Francis Elliott, Chief Political Correspondent

 

 

Gordon Brown faces the humiliating prospect of having to return hundreds of millions of pounds that has been reclaimed in overpaid tax credits in the latest blow to the complex benefit system he introduced.

Officials broke the law for more than three years by failing to tell claimants that their tax credit awards were under investigation, The Times has learnt. Ministers admit that at least 250,000 cases will have to be reviewed.

George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, is demanding an inquiry by the independent spending watchdog into the affair. A whistleblower in Revenue & Customs has told the Tories that the final bill could top £500 million.

 

Read on...

 

 

 

Cashback for parents in tax credits fiasco - Times Online

[kennythecelt]

Good find and good post!!

[kennythecelt]

BBC NEWS | Business | £500m tax write-off claim denied

 

read this too.

[splashin]

Check out this link if your having tax credit problems. There ae people there who can actually help you and are also willing to do so. So many have and are still being affected by the tax credit system, don't do it alone

http://www.taxcreditoverpayment.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

 

Splashin

[honey5]

where do i go what do i do? this has got me ill

i recieved a letter from HMRC yesterday saying they are looking into my CTC the thing is there is an over payment, i m a single mum with 3 children two were on DLA the daughters ended and i rang them (they have no recollection of this tho)

this year when the renewal came thru i just signed and sent it back, there were no changes to my circumstances so i didnt check it (more fool me) id just lost my grandmother then 5 weeks later my mum and head wasnt working right unfortunately,

ill have to pay it back obviously and realise i was at fault but what will they do, will it have to be paid in one go (as i dont have it) will they stop any tax credits (we wont be able to live and will end up having to sell the house so i can feed the kids) im just so lost honestly ive never been thru anything like this before in my life

thanks in advance

honey x

[honey5]

this letter is dated the 21st nov 2007 but they want the info bank statements mortgage statement phone bills all house hold bills et sent too them by jan 5th 2007

[GlasweJen]

honey5 you should start your own thread on this so that more people will see it.

[honey5]

sorry im just a basket case today ill get it done thankyou x

[Joa]

Do google-search 'Tax Credit Casualties' and you'll find what you need on that site (not sure if the webmaster here will accept direct links). From there you can email us and get the support and pointers you need. You are SO not alone and we will look after you!!

 

Beautiful post. Bloody fantastic. That's what I love about self-help websites. I am a born cynic, but this ....this is great.

[Joa]

I think you may have made a mistake mate- because if it was a deliberate advertisement of a website which has absolutely nothing to do with this thread- it will be swiftly removed. Shame, huh?

[puppylove]

I got a visit from the child tax credit saying I owe them £7,000!!! because i never filled in the forms in 2003! and now they are threatening me with court! i am a single mother on benefits what should i do?

[GlasweJen]

start your own thread puppy so that it gets noticed, add as much info as possible and someone with tax credit knowledge should be along to help.

[cobbi]

hi wondered if anyone can help me?????? i have been told to repay an overpayment from 2005....i have appealed against this and they have said i still have to pay it back...... this is my problem

 

i was enitled to the money in that year and had moved address in 2004 of which i did inform them of. did not get an annual declaration so therefore did not send it in as i assumed i could no longer claim when they stopped my money in oct. i did not claim in 2006. then was told by a friend that i was still entitled to claim so i phoned them in 2007 to enquire they would not speak to me at first as the address i gave was not the one they held. they then confirmed i could and so have been doing....my circumstances have not changed i still work for the same company as i did in 2004, still have my child the only thing that has now changed is that my income has increased from 2004. what can i do???? do i just say fine and if so how do i pay this back?????

hoping someone can help thanks!!!!!!!!

[GlasweJen]

start your own threat cobbi, meshing your problem into a long thread means less people are likely to notice and your situation may be confused with the OPs.

[campaigner]

I can't post a link to the Tax Credit Casualties forum, much as I would like to, as millions of people have received tax credit overpayments and wish to dispute them, but are rarely helped to do so by HMRC, or even told that they can.

 

You will need to google-search 'Tax Credit Casualties' in order to find us.

 

I hope the Moderators will let this post stand, because in my view it does not fall foul of the guidance below, and like the Consumer Action Group, all the Casualties want is social justice. We are a voluntary, unincorporated organisation run by and for tax credit victims - that's all!

 

Here are the rules for posts:

 

 

 

A topic/post will be edited or deleted if it contains:

 

 

* Xenophobia, racism or personal abuse.

 

 

* Pornography, links to Pornography or links to other inappropriate sites

 

 

* Sexually explicit content

 

 

* Touting for business in any way

 

 

* Any form of unauthorised advertising or Spam

 

 

* Advertising or sale of illegal bootleg material

 

 

* Any type of pyramid selling or referral schemes

 

 

* Anything invasive in to a persons privacy

 

 

* Any copyright-infringing content

 

 

* Obvious disregard for the interests of The Group

 

 

* Illegal/defamatory statements

 

 

* Swearing. Whilst censored, mild versions of swearing (e.g. s**t) can sometimes be considered OK, offensive or over use of will be moderated. Any deliberate circumvention of the swear word filter is prohibited. If you are unsure what constitutes swearing, don't type it

 

 

* Incitement to a "flame war"

 

 

* Any attempts to avoid moderation

 

 

The closest I come here is 'touting for business', but none of us asked to be overpaid, when we gave our correct details, and then bullied into paying back money. If the Mods want to get in touch with me, I will arrange for reciprocal links from our site to yours. We are supporters of justice, not rivals, and like you, support the underdog.

 

Thanks,

Campaigner.

[midget1984]

i just got hit with a 1700 bill for over payment in 2005/2006. im single now, but back then i was with my partner. we filled in the forms with is correct wage, but because he did over time, and came to p60 time, turns out we were over paid. the 1700 is half of the bill because it was a joint claim, and now im on my own its hard to pay this back , they want 43 pounds a month off me and i just cant do that!

[Penz]

Hi all,

 

I have CTC people chasing me for £2100 which I am disputing. My partner and myself have a child and was living as a couple, evertything was fine. In August I had a wobbly and asked him to move out for a while. Everything stayed the same apart from he didn't sleep here, saying that, i fell with our second child! He would come everyday and stay until our daughter went to bed. Financially, nothing changed. I'm sure I phone CTC and told them he moved out, but nothing changed. He was living back here by December the same year.

 

When I had to do my renewal i noticed it never had our split on it, so stupidly i phoned to say. The woman on the phone said she was stopping our payments with immediate effect (i was 8 months pregnant by now) She said i would have to fill in a single claim for Aug to Dec and then another joint one from Dec to April. The forms didn't arrive and when I phoned to say haven't got forms they told me that I wouldn't be able to claim as it was too late, only date back 3 months).

 

I spoke to someone at CB, aho told me to get CTC to give me the definition of seperation, they couldn't but the bloke said it sounds as if the lady I spoke to was abit keen. I had to fill in dispute form explain. I did this and a rely letter said they don't see good reason and that I would still have to repay £2100.

 

Can anyone help as this seems a little unfair, I've been honest and feel as if I'm being punished.

 

I have no way to pay back a figure like that, were only just managing to pay bills as it is.

[bangerchops]

hello

I need help with a 5k tax overpayment dating back to 2003-2004

HMRC made there calculations that I was in receipt of jsa despite being in full time employment as was my partner(we have screen prints to prove this) They claim we ticked a box saying we were claiming jsa.We did not and under the freedom of information act applied for all information held on us. They provided us with everything except a copy of the form which we were supposed to tick, they have lost it. We have also asked for copy of the award notice on 5 occasions still no luck. We took our case to the adjudicator and she upheld HMRC decison say we should have known we were being overpaid. This was the first year of WFTC the first year my partner and I had been together and our first child had been born. we had no reason to doubt this amount was incorrect as we had nothing to compare it to.The parliamentary ombudsman took a year to tell me they will not investigate it and the have upheld the decision of the adjudicator(who sent me a check for £50 because of the way hmrc dealt with my case.) The mistake is clearly the fault of HMRC the knew my employers details,my salary,even my contracted hours but still based the claim on me getting jsa and cant prove this to me or anyone else It seems like HMRC are allowed to make mistakes and we have to check thir work for them. I dont know what to do next anyone help!!!!!

[eylau]

outrageous

[WAVE_131]

HMC&R have been trying to reclaim an alleged overpayment of over £1000 for some time.

 

My response is the same....the claims are becoming less frequent....

1) Show me the document where I claimed the money (It is an old over payment and was awarded to me without a claim from myself, in short I took their word that the ammount was accurate)

 

2) Show me the calculations which gave you the figure of £1000. (They have not)

[simmo40]

hi, new to this but need some help

My wife and i used to recieve family tax credit but we seperated in april 2003 and our payments were payed into a joint acc, but in may of that yr my wife phoned them and changed it to be payed into her new acc and i bleieved she must have told them of situation.

When i phoned them as payments were not going in joint acc i told them of situation and the person i talked to even told me the acc number which she should not have done.

Right got a letter in that yr saying we owed money to them told them what had happened , was told i should have rung and told said i did when money was not being paid into joint acc

Did not hear from them for 4 yrs then today got a letter saying i owe them £650 but sppoke to them saying not had any money from them since we split, they say you did not tell us of changes bloody nightmare.

Where do i stand as it was a joint claim but they changed bak acc without oermission and i told them i left and thought wife had done too

Can anyone give me clue what to do next as waiting for thm to send a form to appeal cheers simmo40

[campaigner]

Please google-search 'tax credit casualties' and you will find plenty of help and advice! I can't give full details here, despite this being a user group and entirely voluntary. This isn't a poaching exercise, as any concerned moderator who knows 'Savvy' can check out with her. Please spread the word. Just as the banks have chanced their arm and robbed the public with extortionate charges and need to be fought, so has HMRC hurt those it was entrusted to help with overpayments of its own creation. It is a dangerous, abusive system defying Human Rights legislation, having no accountability whatsoever, and to be armed with knowledge of your rights as a claimant is to have a fair chance of fighting financial ruin and serious health consequences from the ongoing stress and worry. Do that search, find those who can help FREE, and pass on what you find! Good luck!

[JustM]

Last year I promptly informed tax credits of two changes of circumstance.I reported both on seperate days. It took a month each time to alter my payments. This year I have been forced to pay back nearly £1000, as they have demanded 8 weeks full payments, even though the amount actually over paid was afew pounds. I have had to inform them of another change this year, again it took 4 weeks to alter my payments, for afew pounds, therefore I expect to be demanded to pay another 4 weeks full payments next year, when the annual calculation is done.

 

They tell me this the law and there is nothing they can do to change payment amounts more promptly or to only claw back the amount actually owed.

 

Child Tax Credit is my main source of income, so full suspension of payments until they have done their paperwork is not an option and this continual clawing back of an excessive amount of money, every time I inform them of the slightest change of circumstances is causing me and no doubt thousands more, severe hardship.

 

I urge people to sign this petition to the Prime Minister to stop this practice.

 

Petition to: stop HMRC clawing back more than has actually been overpaid. | Number10.gov.uk

Edited November 24, 2008 by jonni2bad
Link removed - Campaign forum is the place to link to petitions

[rubio]

I have received letters informing me that i have been overpaid when in fact i really haven't. I returned the signed dec's back confirming the amount i received for the previous year, 3 months after the deadline i received a letter saying they had not received the declaration and that i owed them over £3,500 in overpaid payments. I requested another form for us to sign but they could not do this as the deadline had expired. To date i am replying with the same letter that they have treated us unfairly.

[romanlady123]

hi. all this has been very interesting but my case is sl;ightly unusual. The tax credit office are chasing me after marital break up for £7200 they say we were overpaid as a couple for 2007/2008 because they (and they have admitted and apologised) input £20000 as £2000. They say that I should have told them that the figure was wrong but i didn't pick it up or didn't receive it whatever - evey copy that I have gives the right figure and I contacted them at least 4 times during the year but that isn't good enough and they kept overpaying even after the correct figure was given and are asking for it back. What can I do? (m note all the correspondence to me and not us!)