Do I have to pay this back - CTC overpaypment

felicity1

I have had a demand this morning for an overpayment of Child Tax Credit to be repaid. Since this is the fault of the Inland Revenue, not my own doing and the money has long been spent, do I have to pay this back?

DreamerV

When you say it is the fault of the Inland Revenue, in what way do you mean? We need more details.

uktyler

Do you have to pay it back? Probably.

Should you pay it back? Definitely.

Regardless of whose fault it was you are not entitled to the money, if its their fault they should come to a sensible arrangement for repayment, so you don't suffer hardship, but they should get the money back.

felicity1

By fault, I mean that the Inland Revenue have failed to make the correct calculation, resulting in an overpayment. We no longer receive CTC so the amount will not be collected the usual way, i.e through our monthly payments, would we have to repay? I have heard of others being overpaid and not paying the sum back but can't quite recall the ins and outs of it all. Thanks,

[Deleted User]

If you think it is TCO who were at fault you need to dispute the overpayment.

If you do not dispute the overpayment you will need to pay it back.

If it is not paid you will be taken to court.

NozzaC

If you took the money in good faith and spent it as you had to, and then, because of their error, you have to pay it back and it puts you in hardship then I don't see why you should have to pay it back. Well not right now anyway.

There are many cases of people who do not have to pay back credits. You have to prove that you met all your responsibilities but they did not meet theirs.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/b_overpayment_of_tax_credits.pdf

It's a gray area but you should definitely protest. At least this will halt all attempts to recover the money whilst your case is considered.

The tax people can be surprisingly fair sometimes but their standard system isn't/ You have to go through the process and provide as much evidence as you can. I've been fined for supposedly late tax returns that were not my fault. They fined me. I protested with a letter. I got my money back. But it WAS their fault not mine.

DreamerV

If it's specifically because the calculation was incorrect, and you had provided all the information necessary in good time, etc...then you have a good chance at disputing, so phone up and get a dispute form. A written explanation might also be useful, so you have something in writing on which it confirms it was because the calculation was incorrect (again not due to you not providing information late, or your income going higher than expected etc). You can ask for this written explanation over the phone but bear in mind it can take 8-10wks to come through.

real1314

When did you realise it was incorrect?

When you got your award notice and read it, did you spot any errors?

System

If TCO made an error in processing information you provided then you would have been expected to contact them and get the error corrected.

If you think your calculation is still wrong and needs to be corrected contact TCO by completing the TC846 - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/tc846.pdf

The dispute team will go through every change made to your claim in the relevant year/s and compare it with the notes on the system which would have been taken when you called. If an error was made they will correct it and send you a letter telling you the correction has been made and to expect a revised award notice.