tax credits help

chelleybelley

hi all im asking for a friend who has had a letter from the tax credits asking for all invoices/receipts for childcare for her children for the previous year, but the childcare/nursery has since gone bust and she paid them with cash....shes panicking now as what to do and where to get the invoices/receipts from, any ideas here or will the tax credits if she gets through to them accept that they have gone bust after checking themselves?
thanks for any help you can give

System

She needs to tell the Tax Credit Office what has happened to the nursery and ask for time to try to gather the proof for them.

Assuming the nursery was operating legally as a business they should have made returns to HMRC themselves and I believe they should have records of the children they had in their care.
If your friend can't trace the owners then perhaps they can get some information from the local authority the nursery would have been registered with.

If TCO can't get any proof that your friend had used that nursery then they will remove the childcare costs from her claim for the period she said her children where there and inevitably that with mean she will end up with an overpayment to be paid back.

chelleybelley

thanks for the reply i told her they would probably do as you have said she just needs reassurance

themull1

the tax credit office will have to find the proof, if the nursery isnt running now, its not the responsibility of the parent. and if the nursery didnt submit returns thats the problem of the tax credit office as well, just send an explanitory letter to them.

jennie-jack

i got the same letter. i dont get invoices from our childcarte and pay cash. im going to have to chase them for my old payments

System

TCO are checking up on high value claims at the moment such as those involving childcare costs and disability. They are doing so to try to prevent fraud and to protect the public purse and it is not unreasonable for them to expect claimants to keep receipts or copies of contracts.

I find it difficult to understand why anyone would pay for something as expensive a childcare, especially in cash, without making sure they at least get a receipt for their money.
Setting aside a possible request from TCO for proof of payment what's to stop the childcare provider claiming that you never paid them and demanding more money from you?

Whilst it is easy for themull1 to say that it's all tax credits problem if the OP's friend can't provide proof that won't bring them much comfort when TCO remove it from their claim and ask them to pay back an overpayment. The op's friend will then have to dispute the decision when they haven't any proof to back themselves up.

However if the OP's friend withdrew a regular amount of cash out of their account equivalent to the childcare cost and can provide statements to that effect then perhaps TCO will be satisfied but they must at least make an attempt to gather some proof together.