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Working tax credit overpayment

Any advice on this please guys,

My OH was made redundant in February, and thought it would just be temp so we did not claim any credits. He eventually signed on in April and asked the council for help with council tax. He was advised we could claim WTC, so I did the online calculator at the beginning of May, and rang the helpline where I completed an application and a form was sent for me to sign. I was awarded WTC and the extra money obviously helped to pay the mortgage.
My OH found a new job and started on the 3rd Sept and so I rang HMRC to advise of a change of circumstance. The agent then said did your OH get income based or contribution based JSA, i said i was unsure, on checking it was contribution based so he said ok, your claim was wrong and you were not entitled to receive WTC, you will have to pay it all back!! I have now received notification to confirm this.

Any suggestions please

Comments

  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 21,548 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Chutzpah Haggler
    Not sure I understand why. Contribution based JSA would count as income for tax credits, perhaps this wasn't taken into account? How many hours do you work and what income? What's your husband's income in his new job?
  • I work 25hrs a week on minimum wage, and my OH will now work full time on 30k
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 21,548 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Chutzpah Haggler
    Presume you have kids (or a disability) otherwise you shouldn't have got WTC at all.

    If so your WTC was probably based on an estimate of your husband not working the whole year, now he is you'll be above the threshold for WTC.

    Problem is tax credits work on an annual basis, annual income over the tax year is what they're interested in. So if you earned above the threshold last tax year and this tax year you'll get nothing, even though you went several months on a low income.
  • yeah we have two kids, thanks for your help. More informative than the HMRC
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