Tax credit newbie

simple338

hi was hoping someone could put me in the right direction.

started claiming tax credits last year so this will be our first renewal, i gave an estimated income but now have my p60 which is lower than my estimate (estimated £12,000 actual £8,700), am i best to call now with income or wait for renewal pack?

hj711

simple338 wrote: »

hi was hoping someone could put me in the right direction.

started claiming tax credits last year so this will be our first renewal, i gave an estimated income but now have my p60 which is lower than my estimate (estimated £12,000 actual £8,700), am i best to call now with income or wait for renewal pack?

Hi there.... if you want my advice, call them and back it up with a written letter too. Ask the person you speak to who you can put it in writing to. I had problems like that and got caught up in the TC fiasco back about 6 years ago with them chasing me for money they claim I then owed them. I won't go into it all here as its not relevant to your particular story, but the TC are a law unto themselves and they are the only part of HMRC which do not have to be held accountable for any of their actions. Talk to them every step of the way, because things have a habit of snowballing and you could end up with a nasty bill which they will demand you pay when it suits them .. not when you can afford it!

hj711

HMG7 wrote: »

Hi there.... if you want my advice, call them and back it up with a written letter too. Ask the person you speak to who you can put it in writing to. I had problems like that and got caught up in the TC fiasco back about 6 years ago with them chasing me for money they claim I then owed them. I won't go into it all here as its not relevant to your particular story, but the TC are a law unto themselves and they are the only part of HMRC which do not have to be held accountable for any of their actions. Talk to them every step of the way, because things have a habit of snowballing and you could end up with a nasty bill which they will demand you pay when it suits them .. not when you can afford it!

PS .. also it takes them FOREVER to 'get' the messages right! Sooner you call them the better! I sent them 5 giro cheques back once and it took 10 months for those cheques to reach the right department, despite the fact that they were sent through my local IRS office and receipted and sent to the person who had given me their name and department and reference number!! The 5 cheques were mistakenly sent to me for a situation that had arisen caused by the same as you.. even though I did phone them and explained my change in income. So basically, back up everything you do/say/ and copy to files for future reference.. sorry I don't mean to frighten you .. I just want you to be aware.. be 2 steps ahead of them all the time! Don't take anything that they say to you as gospel on the phone, ask them to put it in writing too that you want to be sure that you are all singing to the same hymn sheet! If they are doing their job properly, they won't have a problem with that request. Good luck! :-)

cassie105

Please dont waste your money ringing them they will just tell you you need your renewal pack first. You should be im for a lump sum and if this years earnings are likely to increase I would give them an estimate me this years earnings too. I have been claiming for 4 years with no problems as long as you let them know any change im circumstance you will be fine.

Aarons_mummy

They won't renew until you've had your pack through, you may get a lump sum or increased payments for the next year for the underestimate.

no-oneknowsme

HMG7 wrote: »

you could end up with a nasty bill which they will demand you pay when it suits them .. not when you can afford it!

I think you are mis-understanding the OP's post....the Op has UNDER ESTIMATED their income and so HMRC owe the OP money and not the other way around!

OP , you should upon your renewal receive a nice lump sum which will be approx 39% of the difference between your estimated income and your ACTUAL income.

hj711

no-oneknowsme wrote: »

I think you are mis-understanding the OP's post....the Op has UNDER ESTIMATED their income and so HMRC owe the OP money and not the other way around!

OP , you should upon your renewal receive a nice lump sum which will be approx 39% of the difference between your estimated income and your ACTUAL income.

Good evening... or good morning.. No I had not misunderstood what was being said, although I can see why you would think that... I had not explained it very well.. end of the day!! However, whatever the issue is with them..do not underestimate HMRC's capabilty to get it all completely wrong. They may have improved over the last 3 years, but somehow I do not think the improvement will be that vast. I had a similar situation occur and this caused HUGE stress which lasted over a long period of time. I was just advising to take heed and contact them asap before errors are made on their account... if anyone can make an error, they can!

hj711

cassie105 wrote: »

Please dont waste your money ringing them they will just tell you you need your renewal pack first. You should be im for a lump sum and if this years earnings are likely to increase I would give them an estimate me this years earnings too. I have been claiming for 4 years with no problems as long as you let them know any change im circumstance you will be fine.

If you read the blurb on MSE though on these sort of things.,.. the advice is to always call them! My advice is call them and make a note of who you speak to.. the date.. the time etc.. and how long you were on hold before they picked up. It does not matter that you are waiting for the renewal pack.. you have a logged call then on their system. Trust me please on this.. I had 5 years of hell from these people and in the end the only thing that got me anywhere with them was intevention from my MP but even that took two separate occasions over 2 years! They will deny almost anything.. like receiving your renewal pack instructions etc.. but a call is logged even though they can deny that too to start with. Do I sound like I have had a bad experience?? I should, because I did and I kept them informed every inch of the way, even if it seemed to be a 'waste of time' .. When things were starting to get resolved, it seems they had a list of every call I made which corresponded with mine too. Letters and written requests however, went astray.. funny that......