Has anyone appealed against tax credit decision's?

buba_2

Me and my husband are self employed and have to estimate our incomes, as It turns out we had not such a good year & really over estimated for 08-09, this month I have had our true final figures for this period and phoned the tax credit people to tell them we earned less than estimated,
I expected a rebate??? but was sent a letter from head office saying the deadline was 31st July 2009 (didn't have true figures then) so I'm not getting anything from them!!
I have phoned today and have been told all I can do i appeal and they are sending out a form,
Is this correct???
Has anyone appealed before? and how did it work?

I bet if they had over paid ME they would be wanting it back!!

Any help would be great
X

exitroute?

Cant help with your particular tax matter but can tell you i appealed against child tax credits which were unpaid and related to my son staying on at school. Long story but I stuck it out and won. Go for it and good luck.

mitchaa

Sorry, but I cant see what the appeal is for?

It was plastered everywhere from television, to radio, to internet, to newspapers, Infact, you even received paperwork from HMRC stating that the deadline was the 31st of July. It is the same every year.

Why are you just receiving notification of income earned between April 08 and March 09? Surely this should have been made evident in April - May 09?

Its near enough February 2010, what have you been doing the last 9mths? It is going to be the same for this year April 09-March 10 earnings. You will need to get them in before July 31st this year too.

Sorry, but I dont think you have a leg to stand on.

buba_2

Sorry copied and pasted this from someone else's disscution, but I thought this was true of all self employed?!

**When you did your Tax credit annual declaration before 31st July 2009 you must have given them an estimate of your 08/09 self-employed income as you didn't have your books ready at that point.
TCO accepted that but then expected you to give them your actual figure by 31st January 2010 because they know you are expected to have your tax return into HMRC by that date.

You have obviously done that now and in passing on your self-employed loss figure to TCO for your tax credits the system has calculated that you were entitled to more tax credits in 08/09 and paid you what they owed you.**

rach29

Buba that's how I understood it also. I've even had a letter from them asking me to call them before the 31st Jan to confirm the actal figures for that year. I'm worried now as I was expecting a rebate this year also.

I'll be calling them today with my figures, I'll let you know what they say. I reckon I'm due about £1k

rach29

Just for clarity, I'll post the wording of the letter I got recently.

"Thank you for making your Annual declaration for the period 06/04/2008 to 05/04/2009. You told us that you used estimates to work out your income for the year 2008-2009.

If you do not contact us by 31/01/2010 with your actual income details your estimated income will be treated as actual income for 2008-2009.

It is important for you to give us actual figures, if you dont it could cost you money because

• We may not be paying you all the tax credits you are due or

• We may be paying you more than you are due and ask you to pay it back. You may also be asked to pay a penalty

You can give us the information by phoning the helpline on the number at the top of this page."


Now, I take the "we may not be paying you all the tax credits you are due" to suggest that if this is the case then they will pay it to you, since they are happy to ask for money back if you have overpaid.

I'm certain I had a small lump sum back last year and my Provisional Tax credits decision for 12/04/2008 to 05/04/2009 which I got in July says at part 3


"payments already made by us £XXX

Potential payment £XXX This may change because we cannot work out the exact amount until your actual income & circumstances for the whole of the tax year 2008-2009 are known. We will then make a final decision on the amount of your award and pay any amount we owe you."

I would say that's pretty clear.

rach29

Well I called them & they just took the details. No mention of money back or anything. Guess I'll just have to wait & see what they send me unless anyone else can enlighten us as to what happens now?

buba_2

Thanks Rach29! Thought I was going MAD! I am going to give them a call tomorrow and quote the bit in the letter about 31st jan being deadline if self employed, and go through all the paper work they sent last year!
I have to say Tax credit forms are the most stressful ive ever had to fill out!!! ARGHHHHHHHH.

Will let you know how i get on.

rach29

Good Luck Buba, will update here if I hear anything.

[Deleted User]

buba wrote: »

Thanks Rach29! Thought I was going MAD! I am going to give them a call tomorrow and quote the bit in the letter about 31st jan being deadline if self employed, and go through all the paper work they sent last year!
I have to say Tax credit forms are the most stressful ive ever had to fill out!!! ARGHHHHHHHH.

Will let you know how i get on.

The problem is that if you initially completed your declaration and stated that your figures were actual, you cannot then amend them.

Check your final 08/09 award notice that was issued when you renewed - does it state that the figures are estimates?
If not you are likely to be unsuccessful in getting TCO to update the figures.

You only have the extended deadline to 31st January if your award was finalised at 31st July with estimated figures.

rach29

Thanks subsoniccoyote. I know mine was completed with estimated figures so I'm happy I'm doing the right thing. I hope Buba can say the same, it's so complicated & it's not difficult to make such an error.