overpayment tax credit 2007

lacedr

I was overpaid child tax credit in 2007-2008 since that time i have not received any chid tax credit whatsoever as i was told that the money i should have received would pay off the debt. now it has all changed and i am now told i owe £4000 ? help what do i do now ?
thanks
Dave

AnxiousMum

So for the first year after the overpayment, they deducted the overpayment from payments you wouldve normally received right? So did you not renew your claim in April the following year? It sounds like you have let your claim lapse by not renewing - and thereby notifying them of the new year's income amount, and so your claim has been closed. You have neither been receiving, nor been credited by an offset of payments, for your overpayment.

They are quite clear - you have to renew your tax credits each year!

lacedr

i renewed the claim every year but this year they changed the threshold and i am no longer eligible. hence they are saying i owe the full original amount

David_Bedfordshire

I would always advise any contact with Tax Credits should be made by telephone. It takes an age to contact them but is well worth it. Each conversation is recorded and they will repeat back any information given to them. If there is an overpayment you can then question the advice you were given, and the calculation made (always get a name). By post you are reliant upon someone's typing ability. Not really worth taking that chance. If HMRC makes a mistake it will take forever to sort it out. If you make a mistake they will expect a cheque by return. Always remember your Tax Credit award is based on your last years earnings, something serious has to happen to your current earnings for them to come after you. Normally the result will just be a reduction in Tax Credits. It is worth being as precise as possible when looking at your next years income, even add 500 pounds to your calculation. At least then they owe you money for your coming years weekly reward. Most importantly, never put off telling them about changes to your projected income, again, please do it by telephone. Some overtime, a little bonus or some other sort of additional taxable income can really change things for next year. It may not seem a lot at the time but on a monthly basis can make a real difference.

salau2

You need to contact HMRC and ask how they think you were overpaid tax credits. Generally this is due to not informing of a change of circumstances or a change in income. Once you have some details you can decide whether you think the overpayment is valid. If it is you can send them a financial statement showing how much you can afford to pay. If it was a joint claim you may only have to pay half the amount (if you and the partner have ended your relationship). If you think that you have not been overpaid you can dispute this. There is no right of appeal however, you can use formTC846 – available at the HMRC website – to dispute the overpayment. The HMRC can also write off the overpayment using discretion if it would cause exceptional hardship – again this would have to be shown.

lacedr

thanks for the replies i shall get working on it!