Can you trust Tax Credits to get it right?

zagfles

ukjoel wrote: »

I think this is a bigger issue.

If you have a fixed salary (or no salary) its easy to complete the form and claim credits.


However for many people their salary adjusts and changes yet tax credits wont backdate payment so to counter this people underestimate their income (or dont include a bonus they dont know they will get until year end) and are then penalised for this.

If you earn less then than expected its tough luck. If your over they claw it back.

This is rubbish. If you earn less than you estimated, your tax credits will be based on the actual amount you earned (subject to the disregard etc). You never lose out by estimating an income too high, you just get the extra tax credits later, after renewal, if your income was lower than expected.

And all totally irrelavant to the OP's issue.

dori2o

Would it be worth making a Subject Access Request for all information held, including anything contained within Household Notes and CMA notes? At least then you would be able to see if there was anything recorded regarding this situation.

I'm not sure if HH notes are held that long, it's many years since I last worked on TC, and even then only on a contingency basis.

This is from the HMRC website regarding DPA (Data Protection Act requests

Requesting information we hold about you

HMRC is a very large organisation, and carries out a wide range of different functions. Therefore, to help locate the information you want and deal with your request more quickly, you should make your DPA request to the HMRC office that you have been dealing with. You should address your request to the 'Data Protection Officer', and you must include enough details to enable us to verify your identity and locate the relevant information. For example, you should tell us:

• your date of birth
• previous or other name(s) you have used
• your previous addresses in the past five years
• personal reference number(s) that we may have given you, for example your National Insurance number, your tax reference number or your VAT registration number
• what type of information you want to know.

To make sure we are providing information to the right person, we will check the details that you provide to us against your National Insurance number.
If you do not have a National Insurance number, you must send a copy of the back page of your passport or a copy of your driving license together with a copy of a recent utility bill.
The DPA requires that we comply with a request for information promptly and in any event within 40 days of receipt. HMRC will always try to provide a response within this timescale.
We will not charge you for dealing with a DPA request.

Katymac_2

MP = Brandon Lewis

I think I'm going to ask for all my phone calls/letters etc - thanks for the rules about it

Timeline
2003 - Filled in TCO forms with an advisor. Mentioned DH got a PHI which was tax free & I thought it should be dealt with differently

They assessed my income as £25K then as £6K for less than a day and changed it back to £25K

I appealed this decision and it was decided that it was correct. I think I remember several quite heated phone calls about this time & I returned £519.19 by chq

On 12/9/12 I was phoning to tell the my SE income the automatic renewal that had happened in July was apparently 'not valid' so could I please renew my claim over the phone.

The person I was speaking to explained that my DH's PHI was not 'income' for the purposes of TC and that it would automatically be looked at again for the last 5 years and because of the appeal I should ask for it to be looked at again back to 2003.

I then received backdated money for the whole of 2011-2012 & started receiving money 4 weeks as Tax Credits

A letter was sent on 24/10/12 explaining their new decision which I didn't get
On 7/11 I rang to say I hadn't received it - so they said they would send another
On 21/11 I rang to say I hadn't received it - so they said they would send another

I received a letter dated 21/11/12 saying it was too late to amend the income details of the previous 4 years

I spoke to someone on Thursday (29th Nov) who was arranging a 'supervisor callback'

Icequeen99

Katymac wrote: »

MP = Brandon Lewis

I think I'm going to ask for all my phone calls/letters etc - thanks for the rules about it

Timeline
2003 - Filled in TCO forms with an advisor. Mentioned DH got a PHI which was tax free & I thought it should be dealt with differently

They assessed my income as £25K then as £6K for less than a day and changed it back to £25K

I appealed this decision and it was decided that it was correct. I think I remember several quite heated phone calls about this time & I returned £519.19 by chq

On 12/9/12 I was phoning to tell the my SE income the automatic renewal that had happened in July was apparently 'not valid' so could I please renew my claim over the phone.

The person I was speaking to explained that my DH's PHI was not 'income' for the purposes of TC and that it would automatically be looked at again for the last 5 years and because of the appeal I should ask for it to be looked at again back to 2003.

I then received backdated money for the whole of 2011-2012 & started receiving money 4 weeks as Tax Credits

A letter was sent on 24/10/12 explaining their new decision which I didn't get
On 7/11 I rang to say I hadn't received it - so they said they would send another
On 21/11 I rang to say I hadn't received it - so they said they would send another

I received a letter dated 21/11/12 saying it was too late to amend the income details of the previous 4 years

I spoke to someone on Thursday (29th Nov) who was arranging a 'supervisor callback'

You say you appealed the decision, but something must have gone wrong at HMRC's end and that might give you a way in.

When HMRC receive an appeal, only 3 things can happen under the legislation. They can agree the appeal (called settlement), reject it or the claimant can withdraw it.

If they reject the appeal, it must then be prepared for submission to the Tribunal.

So it is important to find out what happened to the appeal and why it didnt go to Tribunal. HMRC cannot make a decision on an appeal that is against the claimant without it.

The other explanation is that they treated the appeal as a dispute.

I think there are a couple of options for taking this forward:

1. If the appeal was definitely an appeal (met the legislative requirements) but was dealt with incorrectly, you could appeal now and try and get it accepted as a late appeal.

2. If there was no appeal submitted, your case comes under Section 21 TCA 2002 for official error. Who was the adviser who helped you fill in the initial claim form?

I have sent you a PM about getting some further advice.

IQ

shedboy94

It also goes to show how unfair and ridiculously generous the Tax Credit system is when a HH with an income of £25000 gets the same amount of benefits as a HH with an income of £6000.

Icequeen99

shedboy94 wrote: »

It also goes to show how unfair and ridiculously generous the Tax Credit system is when a HH with an income of £25000 gets the same amount of benefits as a HH with an income of £6000.

I can't see that is really relevant to the discussion. Lots of disability related payments are exempt, DLA, AA amongst others. If the rules say it is not included, why should the OP accept losing money because of errors by HMRC staff?

IQ

shedboy94

Icequeen99 wrote: »

I can't see that is really relevant to the discussion. Lots of disability related payments are exempt, DLA, AA amongst others. If the rules say it is not included, why should the OP accept losing money because of errors by HMRC staff?

IQ

I wouldn't go jumping to conclusions that HMRC have made the error unless you have seen any proof.
You can't lose money you have never had.

Icequeen99

shedboy94 wrote: »

I wouldn't go jumping to conclusions that HMRC have made the error unless you have seen any proof.
You can't lose money you have never had.

That's true. I would bet on it being a HMRC mistake, but you're right we don't know for sure on this forum.

But the fact of the matter is, the OP came here asking for help. If she was entitled to the money then she is out of pocket and could be owed a substantial amount.

I don't want to divert the discussion further, but anyone who is or has a close family member who has permanently ill health (of which I am one) would much prefer to have their family member well than be receiving money. It is the Government's decision to exempt certain benefits/payments, and nothing to do with the issue the OP has. If the law allows it and it has been denied then it needs to be rectified and all we are trying to do here is help the OP get to the bottom of it, even if the answer turns out to be she gets nothing for whatever reason.

IQ