tax credit compliance letter recieved...HELP!

jengadreads

hi there.

i am actually posting this thread on behalf of a friend. she recieved a letter from the tax credit complience team informing her that her claim for single parent application is wrong and has more or less told her that they know a partner is living with her and this can affect her tax credit money. her partner has indeed moved in with her but, although its wrong she wasnt honest with the tax credit. before anyone replies to say it is fraud etc she already knows this and is now worried about the consequences.

we both did a search and we found out that 200,000 of these letters have been posted out via computer system so the worry of someone informing tax credits perosnally isnt a worry.

my friend does want to sort this out but is worried about the concequences. christmas is coming up and obviously she wants to know the exact protocol of how tax credits are dealing with these letters.

has anyone recieved one of these letters recently and if so what information was required from tax credits and what questions are to be expected

i would also like to add that this has made my friend want to come clean and make a claim as a couple but only once this has been dealt with incase any fines will be made against her.

all advice would be greatly appreciated. also my friend wants be kept annonymous incase tax credits check these forums! hence why im doing it for her

no-oneknowsme

Although your friend actually is comitting fraud , are you sure that the tax credit people are actually implying that in the letter she has received ?

I read in the paper just the other day that HMRC are planning to send out 100's of thousands of these letters just incase anyone's claim in incorrect by way of them forgetting to update their household circumstances.

Receiving the letter may not be an indication that they do know about your friends partner moving in...maybe it is simply a case of she has received this letter and her guilty conscience is reading more into it !

Regardless of whether or not they do know that her circumstances have changed , you , your friend and I all know and agree that what she is doing is wrong.

She needs to contact HMRC tax credits line and inform them of the change of circumstances to reflect that she has a partner living with her . They will of course ask the date upon which the change happened so its entirely up to her she can either:

a) Lie and say that he has just very recently moved in , in which case her single claim will end and a new joint one will be processed....

Meaning that she will spend the near future worrying about the fact that maybe they do know that she was lying and HMRC and currently investigating her for fraud without her knowledge....

Or b) She can come clean and admit her fraud in which case she will be liable to repay all the money she has obtained fraudulantly and possibly a fine/conviction depending on the severity of the fraud commited.

At the end of the day this matter needs to be sorted.

Princessheva

Hello

I have also had one of these today. It takes ages to get through to someone and the line constantly keeps cutting you off so tell your friend she will need to keep trying. They basically ask you questions about your current claim such as money earned last year, do you have a partner living with you, how much your child care cost are your provider etc. They were quite rude to me when I told them how much I paid my childminder and said " why is it that much" ?? They said they may be in contact for further info on that and that's it really. They do ask about if your living alone which was what the letter say but don't just ask questions about that. Took about 10 mins on the phone.

nannytone_2

fighting the urge...............

DX2

nannytone wrote: »

fighting the urge...............

Tick,tock

jengadreads

thanks guys for your advice, well 2 of you anyway, i will pass it on.

System

no-oneknowsme wrote: »

a) Lie and say that he has just very recently moved in , in which case her single claim will end and a new joint one will be processed....

Meaning that she will spend the near future worrying about the fact that maybe they do know that she was lying and HMRC and currently investigating her for fraud without her knowledge....

Or b) She can come clean and admit her fraud in which case she will be liable to repay all the money she has obtained fraudulantly and possibly a fine/conviction depending on the severity of the fraud commited.

At the end of the day this matter needs to be sorted.

I know no-oneknowsme is not advocating lying in the post but just in case the Op's friend thinks about doing this they need to remember that HMRC can check with PAYE and Self-assessment records and DWP records and access the date that people changed address. That could possibly be the reason compliance are investigating their claim. The Op's friend needs to come clean and TCO will cease their single claim accordingly and they can make a new claim together which will be backdated a maximum of 93 days.

If they moved in together more than 93 days ago then the OP will have an overpayment for the period between those dates which will have to be repaid.

jengadreads

and fighting the urge of what nannytone?

Princessheva

I have seen in a few places that this has gone out to 200,000 people claiming as a single person. I definately don't have a partner living with me unless there is someone in the shed I don't know about so think it may just be a coincidence your friend has had the letter.

I would however urge your friend to call them and tell the truth, I know I was panicking and all my details were correct. Otherwise she will be panicking all over Christmas about being found out.

martin_forum

hello,jengadreads

i am posting this for the attention of your friends=i strongly urge her/him to call the tco/compliance officer number and come clean as they know that he/she is living with a partner .
this is something that has happened to me as a person -truly as human i tried to lie to them but they cut me out completely with series of evidence they had.
come of it they were expert and they know what they were doing

Eventually they help me out ,because they know iam scared and i have realise my mistake

They will cancelled your single claim and ask when your partner moved in ===please tell the truth they properbly got a date already.

They will send a new claim form to you,it takes 3wks to arrive-
Fill it with joint details and they will sort the rest for you REMEMBER TO WRITE AND STICK 3 MTS BACKDATED ON THE CLAIM FORM
YOU WILL NOT LOOSE MUCH MONEY IF THEY USE NOTIONAL PAYMENT OFFSETTING for you. they will pay you what you should have ben entitled to if you had make the correct claim in time.
dear friend come clean and have rest of mind so that you can celebrate xmas in good spirit.

i wish you goodluck.

jengadreads

thank you newbie