Tax Credit - Notice to pay

jubo15

Hi there,
I have just received a 'notice to pay' from HM Revenue showing an overpayment of tax credits for the period 05/04/2004. The total amount I have to pay back is £3077.65 and I am supposed to repay by the 26/05/2012. This overpayment was through no fault of my own. They state that I can repay over 12 months if I wish (how kind)! which will be a monthly payment of nearly £300 per month which I can not afford.
Please can anyone advise me? Can they claim this money back after such a long time? I am at a loss as what to do. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks

HB58

Yes, I'm afraid that they can do this, there is no 'statute of limitation' on the retrieval of overpayments. As I understand it, the best you can hope for is to negotiate a schedule of repayments that you are more able to manage.

bigbloomers30

Hi,
I received an overpayment notice this weekend and I owe £1800. Its annoying as I kept them well informed of all changes in my circumstances. There is a tax credits overpayment guide on the "low income tax reform group" website ( can't post a link ) I found this guide really useful and have now sent a dispute letter so at least I will get an explanation as to how this happened. There is also a template letter for opening a dispute which I found really helpful.

no-oneknowsme

Have HMRC given you a breakdown of why this over payment occurred?

The first step I would be taking if this were me would be to ask them to explain how the see this over payment as occurring!

Then , when you have this info it may be clearer.

shedboy94

It's amazing how no-one every has an overpayment that is their fault........if you can prove it wasn't your fault and you would not have been expected to know the o/p was occuring then you will have nothing to worry about.

antrobus

HB58 wrote: »

Yes, I'm afraid that they can do this, there is no 'statute of limitation' on the retrieval of overpayments....

Yes there is actually. Section 37(2) of the Limitation Act 1980 might well exclude "proceedings by the Crown for the recovery of any tax or duty" from the scope of the act, but tax credits are not tax, and hence the Limitation Act does apply.

See: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/dmbmanual/dmbm595080.htm