Tax Credits call 2 years later to tell me I owe them £400.00

sinstar

It is so tedious reading threads like this. "I KNOW I don't owe any money!" "I told them about EVERYTHING!" etc etc.

You can be overpaid even if you tell them things 'on time'. Told them your income was going to be low, realised it had gone up, told them straight away 'on time'? You were paid too much while you were underestimating your income. Etc etc. There are many different reasons for overpayments. Told them your joint household was ending on the day that it did? 'On time'? As quickly as you could? A 4 weeks worth payment was issued out the day before? Oops you are overpaid and it is just an unfortunate bit of bad luck. They will work out exactly what your entitlement was until the day your claim ended and rightly so, that is all you are actually entitled to.

Read all of your letters and documents fully, visit the HMRC website and read the tax credits manual and you have access to all of the guidance people who work at the helpline do. Most importantly find out why your own specific overpayment happened before throwing around accusations and saying you know 100% it isn't your fault. And no one can give you accurate advice unless you KNOW what caused the overpayment (links to TAX CREDITS VICTIMS! forums aren't advice, especially when you don't even know the facts about why an overpayment has happened. That's jumping the gun, a sign of the society we live in today, where everyone wants to find a loophole and shirk their responsibilities. Making it extra difficult for people whose claims are genuinely affected by HMRC errors and mistakes).

sinstar

Also - "I was overpaid 5 years ago and NOW they tell me!"

Assuming your address was actually up to date, award notices etc will show you overpayments. At the end of every tax year your final notice shows you the status of the claim, what was due to you, what was received. They might not be demanding money from you straight away, because your claim is still open, maybe they are even recovering part of your current entitlement. But the notices will show if you have been overpaid.

If people read them properly maybe they would be less surprised when their claim ends and they get a letter actually asking for the money "5 years!!" after they were "supposedly overpaid!!"

sinstar

A reply specifically for the OP:

I received 1 letter in 2007, asking for me to pay this sum of money, I disputed it then by going through all my financial details to do with work and employers to some lady on the phone. I also sent in a written letter explaining that I moved back here and possibly the amount they say I owe was an error? What I mean is, it's possible they looked it our incomes jointly and thought I wasn't entitled to anything.

None of this is disputing an overpayment. To dispute an overpayment you need to fill in a dispute form pointing out exactly how HMRC are at fault and why you will not be repaying the overpayment. You wouldn't be able to do this without first getting an actual explanation of the overpayment. It is that explanation that you are 'disputing', not the mere fact an overpayment exists and you don't like it.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/cop26.pdf
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/tc846.pdf

If they overpayment was from your joint claim, they were right to look at your incomes jointly. If it was from the single claim, your ex partner's income wouldn't be on it.

LizzieS_2

Pam17 wrote: »

HMRC recommend holding on to P60's and P45's etc for 6 years as that's how far back they can ask to inspect your taxes and that's also how far back you can ask them to review your tax affairs..

I think HMRC can go back forever - only you are restricted to 6 years.