In massive trouble with Tax Credt

[kaki]

I am single parent of four children. I have received a letter by tax

credit compliance officer as i declared 29,500 pounds of wages instead

of 40, 411 pounds. The 29,500 is my main contract hours and remaining

is overtime with the same employer. I have been desperating doing

overtime tosupport my very sick mum to treat her cancer abroad until

she died this July gone 2011.I received P60 for my contract

hours for the 29,500 pounds. I didn't bother asking or collect the

overtime P60 from the overtime office. When renewing i gave the 29,500 over

the phone. And this is exactly what i did for year 2010 for my four my

children but 2011 i claimed for three children as my oldest is now in

university which i informed the tax credit office. Now the compliance

office have done a check and found the true income for my contract and

overtime hours. I have up until 28/11/2011 to reply to them if i disagree else the

letter says if they do not hear from me they will amend both 2010 and

2011 tax credit award. I did not ring as the information they have is true. The letter also says I could face penalty charge or if they find out that i have commited criminal offence i will be prosecuted. I am so scared and devasted of going to prison, leaving my children behind. I am so scared i will lose my job . I am willing to pay back all overpayment if they will accept that in instalments. i will make every effort to pay the money back. please help me with an advice and if further can assist me and i pay for the cost. i

am so shaking, sick and crying all the time. I know this is my fault

and i am ready to pay all if i am given the chance. Many Thanks

[rebel11]

Hi kaki

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The guys will be happy to advise as soon as they are available. Try not to worry, things seem a lot worse then they actually are.

[Gemy]

Hi

 

Please dont worry i am in the same situation as yourself, i didnt know u had to declare the car income my husband receives, i got the same letter as yourself, about the 24th novemeber, i to want to pay it back and phoned them to let them know that they were actually right, but do check that they have the right information as looking deeper into it, the have put 2000 pound on each year more than we got, so im going to have to tell them that they are 4000 pound over, so please do check the figures.

 

After speaking to the lady on the phone she said u aren't going to go to prison so dont worry.

 

2 weeks later i phoned again to see what was happening, the lady said to me they havent even opened my case yet as they are back logged on others, She said they would work out the overpayment and they would sent a letter to say how much i need to pay back etc... but they wouldn't amend my payments until i receive the letter. she also said that if the overpayment was over 5000 they would fine u 3% of whatever he overpayment is.

 

I know how u feel, but im ok now please dont panic, u arent going to jail, just phone them and explain things etc... and please enjoy christmas with your kiddies thats what i plan to do im not going to let them ruin it for me and my family. And just wait for the outcome of what they say, but i dont think its going to be anytime soon by the look of it.

[kaki]

Dear Gemy,

 

THanks so much for your comforting words. I have written to the compliance officer on monday 12/12/2011 by special delivery. When i received the letter i panicked so much and contacted an online xxxxxx who advised me that i will be going to prison therefore i should pay £195 which i did so they will deal with the case. He wrote to me after paying the £195 with a very scary letter to avoid police interview i should pay £950 so they can prepare a statement to avoid interview under a police. I have not slept since. I have so worried then i decided to write to the compliance officer myself expalainining the situation that led me to put myself in such a mess. i am hoping the compliance officer will have mercy on me after reading my letter as i have been honest and told her the truth. I can not even go to work as this solicitor have really made me depressed. Once again thank you for sharing your story, which has lifted my spirit.

Edited December 14, 2011 by MARTIN3030

[rebel11]

Hi kaki

 

Find out where your local CAB office is, they can help you. I'm not sure why you think these solicitors can help you and why they are saying you will go to prison.

 

I've flagged this up for the Site Team.

[kaki]

Hi Rebel11,

 

I contacted the solicitors because the letter said if they think i have committed a criminal offence they will proscecute, i therefore panicked knowing i did not declare the overtime. And this solicitor took adavantage saying that because i have been dishonest he advce me to stop calling the complianc officer as they will throw questions at me for me to be confused. as i have never been in such situation i believed him. This is my first time of dealing with solicitor, but i made it clear to him i am not paying The £950 as i do not even have it, moreover i will i prefare to use it to pay towards the tax credit overpayment. Even he £195 i paid he did not do anything on the case. I have been so foolish.

[Gemy]

Dont beat yourself up about the solicitor, we all do silly thing when in a panic, but please dont part with any more money, its disgusting that he told u that u will go to prison, i have read tons of forums and tales of other people that are in the same situation, and none of them have gone to prison. they have contacted the tax credits and have just had to pay it back, i know mine is going to be a big amount but at the end of the day i will have to pay it back, i still have my family and that's the most important thing to me.

 

u have done the right thing by writing, but as i said u may not hear back for a while, until then dont worry about it don't deal with the stupid solicitor anymore and stop panicking theres no point getting yourself ill over this.

[MARTIN3030]

Can you confirm how you paid this £195 and what you was sent.

Did you read and accept their terms and conditions ?

When you say that the Solicitors didnt do anything-what exactly DID they do ?

[kaki]

Dear martin3030,

 

Please check your inbox, i have written the name of the person i spoke. The reason why i said they did not do anything for me was the compliance officer's letter asked me to contact them asap by 28/11/2011. But as i was too scared and i went through the solicitor who wrote to me on the 28/11/2011 that they have opened communication with HMRC and it will take several weeks for them to respond as they are behind. I became worried so i wrote back to the solicitor that i am going to ring and they wrote back instructing i must not ring, i should leave them to do their job. I then heard from them on the 8/12/2011 that they spoke to the compliance office, and i am being investigated which is very serious as i have been dishonest but with their experience if i pay £950 they will do a statement on my behalf. I wrote them back that i do not have the money as i am in financial stress (hand to mouth). And i even told them tax credit is still paying me the monthly pay of £199 which i want them to stop. But they replied that as they have good relationship with HMRC i will be allowed to pay the overpayment back as soon as i pay the £950 before christmas. I wrote to them yesterday that i do not think i should be paying that amount to them as they initially made me aware the £195 cover all tax credir issue including VAT. I went on saying i know i have done a very big mistake but that doesn't mean i should pay £950 for a statement. Many thanks Martin3030 for reading this. THanks also to Rebe11 for flagging this to site team and Gemy for your words of encouragement.

[lis79]

Do you know how much your overpayment is? If it's only since April, it's unlikely to be over £5000? It seems from what I've read on this forum, that the amount of overpayment is considered when they decide to prosecute.

I know it's easily said, but try not to panic too much, they can be reasonable and your mum being ill is mitigating circumstances.

[ErikaPNP]

Kaki - the police will not become involved in tax credit fraud at the level you are talking about. Please do not part with any other money to anyone (apart from any overpayment which should go directly to HMRC rather than through a third party). A third party's relationship has no bearing on any HMRC investigation, regardless of how good it is claimed to be.

 

Any legal advisor worth their salt would not tell you that you will be going to prison without having the evidence of both parties to hand, and that includes evidence that prosecutors have and that is deemed as admissible. Prosecution proceedings haven't even been issued, so for anyone to say with certainty that you are going to prison is premature at best and scaremongering at worst. Your letter has come from the compliance team - this is a civil investigation, not a criminal one at this stage. As long as you provide a full disclosure, you will be made to repay the overpayment and that is likely all - perhaps a penalty on top but a full disclosure can also result in this being brought down. At this stage you do not need a solicitor.

 

I would strongly discourage you from parting with any more money.

[dx100uk]

how did you pay?

 

if you paid by a card then use chargeback

 

phone the card issuer and tell them you have been diddled by a telephone monkey

 

 

dx

[kaki]

Kaki - the police will not become involved in tax credit fraud at the level you are talking about. Please do not part with any other money to anyone (apart from any overpayment which should go directly to HMRC rather than through a third party). A third party's relationship has no bearing on any HMRC investigation, regardless of how good it is claimed to be.

 

Any legal advisor worth their salt would not tell you that you will be going to prison without having the evidence of both parties to hand, and that includes evidence that prosecutors have and that is deemed as admissible. Prosecution proceedings haven't even been issued, so for anyone to say with certainty that you are going to prison is premature at best and scaremongering at worst. Your letter has come from the compliance team - this is a civil investigation, not a criminal one at this stage. As long as you provide a full disclosure, you will be made to repay the overpayment and that is likely all - perhaps a penalty on top but a full disclosure can also result in this being brought down. At this stage you do not need a solicitor.

 

I would strongly discourage you from parting with any more money.

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much ErikaPNP for your Good advice.

[kaki]

how did you pay?

 

if you paid by a card then use chargeback

 

phone the card issuer and tell them you have been diddled by a telephone monkey

 

 

dx

 

Is it possible to get my money back? I used a debit card . Thanks for drawing this to my attention.

[dx100uk]

yes chargeback covers debit cards too

 

go get 'em!

 

type in chargeback on a search engine

 

you'll soon get the idea

good luck

 

keep us informed

 

dx