Tax credits overpayment to ex-girlfriend of 18 months ago..

carl0s

halibut2209 wrote: »

Yes, it's to the family unit, so when overpayments are made, it's the adults IN that family unit AT THE TIME that have to repay it. Should there have been an underpayment, then that money would go to where the family unit is AT THE TIME the payment is made.

Which is what I said

... and she would legally have to share that with me then, would she ?

I mean, ideally, it would have been a joint bank account, wouldn't it. That was the mistake all along.. not having the finances out in the open.

I suppose in that regard then the benefits system can be seen as fair then! Joint accounts are the way forward with this stuff, but imagine moving in with a girl, filling in the form, and saying "right-o.. let's move those benefits over here!"

carl0s

halibut2209 wrote: »

Yes, it's to the family unit, so when overpayments are made, it's the adults IN that family unit AT THE TIME that have to repay it. Should there have been an underpayment, then that money would go to where the family unit is AT THE TIME the payment is made.

Which is what I said

I'm sorry but with more consideration, I think the above to be wholly unfair.

If "the adults IN that family unit AT THE TIME" have to re-pay any overpayments

then "the adults IN that family unit AT THE TIME" should be the direct recipients of the payments in the first place.

They need to split the payments. I bought food out of my bank account. I paid the school dinners because she didn't have a cheque book. I paid the water bill, and Internet bill, and I paid more than what the rent was into her account every month.

Joint tax credit payments should be split if this whole thing is supposed to be thought of as fair. Otherwise, they should just allow the individual to maintain an individual claim, but of course reduce the amounts on the basis that there is another income in the household.

halibut2209

Indeed. There were clearly financial issues between you and your ex, but that is not the fault of HMRC. Ideally, you could have been more open with each other over the family finances, and sadly this is a consequence of that.

That said, it is still important to find out exactly when and where the overpayments took place as there may be a case to appeal due to the overpayments being their error rather than yours (for example, they didn't update the records after you informed them of changes)

carl0s

I guess there were, but really, we each just paid for whatever, whenever. I would say overall that I paid for more stuff than she did, but that's because I knew she earned less than me, although having said that I suspect with these benefits that she did quite a bit better than I did. There wasn't really a need to look into each others bank details, except now in hindsight of course.

halibut2209

carl0s wrote: »

I'm sorry but with more consideration, I think the above to be wholly unfair.

If "the adults IN that family unit AT THE TIME" have to re-pay any overpayments

then "the adults IN that family unit AT THE TIME" should be the direct recipients of the payments in the first place.

They need to split the payments. I bought food out of my bank account. I paid the school dinners because she didn't have a cheque book. I paid the water bill, and Internet bill, and I paid more than what the rent was into her account every month.

Joint tax credit payments should be split if this whole thing is supposed to be thought of as fair. Otherwise, they should just allow the individual to maintain an individual claim, but of course reduce the amounts on the basis that there is another income in the household.

Ok, let me be blunt.

Child Tax Credits are for the children, not the adults. If your ex wants to spend it on peroxide or whatever then that's up to her. But you get the money because you have children.

If you are paid too much, then whoever has the children when you are paid too much has to pay it back. In this case, that is your ex and yourself.

If you have been underpaid, then when that is discovered the money goes to whoever has the children, because THAT is who the money is for.

However, this is a moot point as in your situation there has not been an underpayment. I was responding to another post claiming the system is unfair.

carl0s

halibut2209 wrote: »

Ok, let me be blunt.

Child Tax Credits are for the children, not the adults. If your ex wants to spend it on peroxide or whatever then that's up to her. But you get the money because you have children.

If you are paid too much, then whoever has the children when you are paid too much has to pay it back. In this case, that is your ex and yourself.

If you have been underpaid, then when that is discovered the money goes to whoever has the children, because THAT is who the money is for.

However, this is a moot point as in your situation there has not been an underpayment. I was responding to another post claiming the system is unfair.

You're missing the point. If we're to agree that I benefit to the tune of half of the credits awarded, because it went to the family and I would have otherwise used my own money, then by them making an underpayment, I have made up for their shortfall. That's their own model of what happens. So I should be due that money back, or do they instead assume that I

dmg24 wrote: »

happily sat by and watched them go without?

? We've already implied that this does not happen. (It's the basis of the whole argument that I should pay *them* back).

This whole thing seems to work on the basis that every penny in is spent directly on the children, and that a fiver more or less means more or less food or clothes. There doesn't seem to be any consideration that some people have a buffer of money, or don't actually spend all of their money, and are waiting desperately for the next installment of benefits.

Oldernotwiser

carl0s wrote: »

I would have been able to choose whether to enter into a joint loan or not. That's the difference here.

You could choose whether you applied for tax credits - it's not compulsory!

carl0s

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

You could choose whether you applied for tax credits - it's not compulsory!

She was already receiving. I had no interest other than to tell her that she must tell them of her changed circumstances, as per the TV adverts..

She could have stopped receiving them, that is all.

AfterDark

zagfles wrote: »

£5k wouldn't cause an overpayment - there's a £25k disregard on income increases between one year and the next. I think you need to establish exactly how the overpayment arose and make sure they are working on correct figures.

Don't think the 25k disregard comes in play once a claim has been ended. As the joint claim would have been ended and a fresh claim would have been made for her single claim.

halibut2209

carl0s wrote: »

If we're to agree that I benefit to the tune of half of the credits awarded

See, that's where we don't agree. The children benefit. Not you, not your ex.

If there is an underpayment, then in theory you should notice and get it sorted through HMRC. If you don't notice and continue to support the children, then you are doing right as a parent.

However if you fail to notice, despite your payments being laid out in your award letter, then HMRC will rectify that themselves at a later date. But that money is awarded to the children and that's where it should and will be paid.

If you wanted to contest that with your ex, then that's between you and her, not HMRC.