Is it possible to stop Tax Credits?

[winnie-the-witch]

Hi,

I currently have an overpayment of £2000 to which i pay £20 per month, this is from around 2004.

They recently wrote to me telling me that this amount was outstanding and that if i didn,t pay or contact them they would take further action.

 

I contacted them in a panic thinking this is more money i have to pay back but not knowing how or why, i was told it was from a previous overpayment which i was under the belief had ceased because the £23 direct debit stoppped being taken from my account.

 

I spoke to an advisor who told me i still owed £247 and could i pay it immediately. I said no, so he said he would add it onto the other £2000, but could i pay a larger amount, again, i said no.

 

I,ll get to the point of my query now, I am finding dealing with these people taxing (pardon the pun) and i am getting increasingly worried of more overpayments, as i have enough debts without this going on.

 

Is it possible to stop tax credits and if so, would i have to pay all the money i got paid over the last year? Would they expect all the money that i already owe them to be paid back as well? and is there a time scale?

 

Another reason i would like to stop the tax credits is because i have an opportunity to become self employed, and this is going to be enough to get my head around without dealing with these people as well.

 

Hope this makes sense,

Thanks

Winnie

[James 01]

Tax Credit Technical Manual says no- http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/TCTM06107.htm

 

Tax Credit Manual says no - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ntcmanual/applica_capture/ntc0070480.htm

 

So the answer is no- you cannot withdraw it when a decision is already made.

[winnie-the-witch]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. So if i can,t stop tax credits is it possible to not renew when they ask me to?

[ErikaPNP]

Tax credit claims are funny things. They are not officially decided until renewal at the end of the tax year. If you fail to renew your claim, they may make you repay the whole of the previous year's award, because an award is not finalised until the renewal is done. So yes, you can withdraw your claim, but you will remain liable for any overpayments and they can request you pay the amount in full if you are no longer in receipt of an award whereby they reduce it to recoup the overpayment, and you may have to repay what you have received so far. Best way to end it is to tell them at renewal that you do not wish to continue the claim into the next tax year.

 

I'd urge you to really consider whether ending your claim is the answer. The easiest way to avoid tax credit overpayments is to inform them of changes on the day that they occur, rather than waiting until renewal, and to ensure that any wrong information on the award notices they send you in relation to what they say your circumstances and income are, are notified to them within one month of the date of the award notice. Everyone I've had with tax credit overpayments have found that since doing this, no further recoverable overpayments are created; they can still overpay if they fail to implement the change but they cannot recover.