Tax Credits Childcare Not Recognised

tclci

rang up tax credits last week to inform them i no longer needed to claim for childcare help

i have now received an amended award notice stating they owe me an additional £2k this tax year

having read through the notice it gives a figure for the amount i paid per week for childcare. However all previous award notices for the past 3yrs have always stated 'you have no qualifying childcare' where this figure is

i have rang them up every time i have received an award notice to double-check that my childcare details were on the system and the member of staff always stated that yes they had my info correct

but when i rang up to inform them i no longer needed to claim, the member of staff asked for all my childcare details again. at the time i just thought they were confirming everything, to make sure what i had told them in the past was correct

now im wondering whether my claim for the past 3yrs has been wrong, and i should have been getting some help towards childcare

i just assumed that as my previous awards said 'you have no qualifying childcare' that just meant we earnt too much to get any help

before i ring them, does anyone know, why they would owe me money if i have stopped claiming for childcare? in all honesty i expected my award to drop from hereonin, not increase

F

suelees1

I don't think anyone knows how the tax credit office works. I deal with them day in day out on behalf of clients and it's the most frustrating govt dept ever. I doubt if anyone on here can tell you what you need to know. We know what SHOULD be happening but it's a bit of a minefield at times. I don't think you should ever assume anything as you stated about your past award notices.

I'd ring agqain tomorrow, ask them what this £2000 is about, where it's come from and why have your previous award notices say you have had no qualifying childcare costs.

Always always always try to get the name and office and make a note of it in case of future problems.

lorelai34

Right if you have had award notices for the past 3 years that says you have no qualifying childcare then it means that there were no childcare costs on the system for you. When you phoned up to end the costs the advisor should really have told you this sounds like he/she just added them on without telling you they weren't there in the first place - that woudl explain the payment due to you. The advisor will have backdated it as far as they could so it will be either 3 months or to the beginning of the tax year. Your argument will be that you phoned to query why it said no qualifying childcare but they told you it was fine. However they might argue back and say you did a renewal every year confirming no childcare?

tclci

lorelai34 wrote: »

Right if you have had award notices for the past 3 years that says you have no qualifying childcare then it means that there were no childcare costs on the system for you.

but i rang every year to double check and they said that my childcare details were on the system

having looked at last years final award notice, this years predicted one, and the latest one showing my amended childcare, all the CTC figures match exactly from one award to another, but the WTC seems to have the main discrepancy. the childcare figure is ok, but the reductions due to income has gone from £1300 to £30

now i havent changed my income at all, so cant figure out why my income is now not being reduced to such an extent

think its going to be a long phonecall this morning

T

suelees1

Not sure if the Tax Credit office do it but I'd ask for a call back as it's yet another govt 0845 nbr which isn't including in all phone packages. Good luck with it.

tclci

well what a palarva that was

yes, it seems, they havent been paying me any childcare help for the past 3yrs. all the details are on their system, but for some reason they werent being included in the calculations - am awaiting a call from someone higher up, who can explain the balls-up

thank god, im pedantic about paperwork. i have dates and times of every phonecall ive made and have kept every award notice - so i can prove i didnt accept what the awards notice was telling me (ie no childcare)

there is one technicality we are disputing though. the rules are you have to inform them if your childcare costs go up or down by £10/wk. i use two childcare providers and it just so happens that one raised their fees, just as my nursery funding kicked in with the other. overall between the two providers i am paying the same amount in childcare per week, but as they both altered by over £10/wk, tax credits say i should have informed them - i say no i didnt have to, as my costs havent changed, just the amounts to each provider have

thanks for all the help - but i can see this rolling on a while yet, as i dont think they still have all my details correct, due to there being so many dates and childcare payments that we have to corroberate

T