Tax Credits: Why So Complex? discussion

Chris_L_5

The tax credit con is aimed at the middle class to try and fool them into thinking they are getting some money back, when in actual fact they are losing out because the child support has been cut. The purpose is to get rid of child support allowance which is a fair and easy system to administer but one that goes against Labour's philosophy because "rich" people with children get the money as well.

Couples earning up to £55k per year will get tax credits (sounds great doesn't it) but in reality I worked out that if as a couple you earn over £20k (& all the way up to £55k) you will only get around £300 per year. This is far less than what you would get under child support plus there's the horrendous cost of administering the system to pay for.

NASA_2

Chris_L wrote: »

The purpose is to get rid of child support allowance which is a fair and easy system to administer.......

That's not what I have been told by people that work in it

rubix_76

PeteHi wrote: »

One final question... our child is now 18 months, am I right in thinking everyone receives tax credit for the first 12 months?

Up untill your child is 1 year old you receive an extra "baby" element to your award (assuming you are entitled to an award in the first place) so after they turn 1 you will get less.

There isn't much I understand with Child tax credits, but that one I do get ! :T

gloucesteroldspot

I disagree with people who say that overpayments are avoidable. A few years ago our circumstances changed and we asked them to stop paying us. And then we asked again, and again.....Eventually the only way to make them stop was to close down the bank account they were paying in to! After a year or two we got it mostly sorted, but they were still chasing us for a very small amount . Now our circumstances have changed again and we have claimed again, only to find that although we were entitled to a small amount for the last financial year it was 'tool little' for them to pay!

You just can't win with this system. the only person who likes it is Gordon Brown.

PS somebody above also referred to a government desire to cut child benefit, which is the first I have heard of this, but I did see an interview with the Conservative shadow chancellor in which he said that if elected they would have to consider scrapping universal benefits like child benefit and the winter fuel allowance....

CHESHIRE_LASS_2

We were receiving TCs, then in April my JSA stopped and my husband went on temporary short time 3 days which is 24 hours. So I rang the helpline and told them and they said we were no longer entiltled to TCs.

Next thing we get a demand for overpayment from Jan to April when I rang them about this they said it was because husband was only working 24 hours per week, it turns out someone had changed our details to say that he had been working 24 hours since Jan.

My husband spoke to his boss at work to ask if there was any chance he could have another 6 hours work per week as we were losing TCs and 2 days pay. His boss said your normal working hours are 37 as stated in your contract therefor you should put 37 hours on your claim form.

In the meantime husbands hours have gone to 4 days 32 hours so now we are receiving TCs again but only half the amount we were receiving before and we still have to sort out the overpayment.

I think all these benefits are made difficult on purpose to put people off and it judging by some of the posts on here it seems to be working!

cartlpa

Seven years ago, suddenly finding myself a lone parent on benefits i decided to slog my way out of the benefits trap by setting up my own business only to quickly realise that i had un-wittingly stumbled into the mine field that is Tax Credits. Eight years on and now married to a chap who was also a self employed, lone parent incurring overpayment after overpayment like me, we now owe over £8k in so called overpayments.Tax Credits say that we have failed to keep them informed of changes, i dispute this and have itemised phone bills to prove that i have made contact with them but this isn't sufficient evidence apparantly. THIS GOVERNMENT HAVE GOT US WELL AND TRULY UP AGAINST THE WALL WITH OUR PANTS DOWN! I even gave up self employment for a job in the NHS which i thought would offer me a regular income and cause less confusion for the tax man, not so as the NHS brought in Agenda for Change and kindly payed me 2 years back pay which only added to the stress of yet another tax credit over payment. It seems to me that i would have actually been better off sitting on my back side all day watching Loose Women and claiming benefits. I'm soooooo angry over this my blood boils every time i hear the word Inland Revenue:(

Wedge-watcher

nearlyrich wrote: »

It's over five years since we were entitled to the basic tax credits, every year we still get two lots of everything, a small forest worth of waste paper. Every year they say they will stop sending them but we still get over 100 A4 sheets of paper and I wonder how many others do too?

I would suggest SEVERAL!!!!!!

I am married and have been receiving child tax credits since their inception.

Eversince that first years renewal:-

a, we have received two copies of everything - renewal packs, renewal notices, amendment confirmations - Everything, despite all payments going to one account and confirming that this OK at each 'renewal'. What goverment department T*t decided this would be a good way to use central government funds which we in turn provide through various taxes etc. As you may be able to tell this infuriates me and it seems there is no way to stop it - i have tried on numerous occasions. :mad:

b, we have owed money back to them, and not I would add due to major changes of circumstances on our part resulting in overpayment - in fact two more children have come along since then and yet WE still owe them! This cant be right, but as previously said the forms are soooooo complicated you need a phd to understand them (I run my own small business so am used to dealing with figures but this is just rediculous complexity in the extreme)

C'mon martin youre our only hope - how about starting an online petition to bring some changes?

whitevanwoman

there is an online petition calling for an amnesty for unfair overpayments and reform of the system here http://www.petitiononline.com/tco1/

Gaijin

I'm a chartered tax adviser and the firm I work for (which is a pretty big one) will not even look at sorting out tax credits for people because the system is too difficult to get to grips with and fraught with risk.

My husband and I have been overpaid each year bar one - when I was on maternity leave and my income dropped - because despite having to phone them up and tell them about changes in income and circumstances, they don't factor that in to the tax credits in-year. When on maternity leave, when tax credits would have been really useful, we had to wait until I was back at work and earning again before getting our renewal pack and getting a relatively big payment- by which time our finances were back to normal. Of course, that meant that they overpaid us by a big amount in the following year since they used the figures from when I was off work...and we'll be paying it all back for a long time yet.

The aim of the system is laudable. The way it works is not.

[Deleted User]

Gaijin wrote: »

I'm a chartered tax adviser and the firm I work for (which is a pretty big one) will not even look at sorting out tax credits for people because the system is too difficult to get to grips with and fraught with risk.

My husband and I have been overpaid each year bar one - when I was on maternity leave and my income dropped - because despite having to phone them up and tell them about changes in income and circumstances, they don't factor that in to the tax credits in-year. Yes, they do. You can update your estimated income during the course of the year. You don't need to wait until you receive your renewal. When on maternity leave, when tax credits would have been really useful, we had to wait until I was back at work and earning again before getting our renewal pack and getting a relatively big payment- by which time our finances were back to normal. Again, you could have told them at the time. Of course, that meant that they overpaid us by a big amount in the following year since they used the figures from when I was off work...and we'll be paying it all back for a long time yet.

The aim of the system is laudable. The way it works is not.

I am not sure how you could have been overpaid if you only called them once a year (as this is what I am understanding from your post) to give your income details unless you had under-estimated your current year income each year. Or you had been late in notifying TCO of changes which happened throughout the year.