Tax Credits Debt Letter - Please Help

saintscouple

My wife has received a letter stating she owes £271.20 in tax credits, on the back this breaks down as period ending 05-04-2007 £151.15, and 05-12-2008 £120.05.
Our situation is i am disabled on income related esa, and my wife is my carer.
I have tried phoning the tax credits people for an explanation of the debt and why after all this time this is the 1st letter we have received.
I eventually got hold of someone who was most arrogant, and didn't want to help at all. He just said it's written in the letter, it's an overpayment, and that they have sent other letters, not their fault we have not received them!
I asked for proof of the payment, he said they don't provide that.
I asked for copies of the letters they apparently sent before...again same answer they don't provide that.
I asked if i can appeal, he said no.
He then said they will recover the money owing there is no wriggling out of it!!
I asked for his name, he told me to speak to my wife, who gave authority to speak for him to speak to me, as he gave it to her!
The call ended.

Can anyone please advise what we can do, i can't believe it's taken over 6 years to write to us about this, although they claim otherwise. We did move approx 4 years ago, but had our mail redirected for a year.

Any advise would be most appreciated.

Thank you

saintscouple

Thank you for your reply,

Yes i understand some people will ignore letters, but this isn't the case with us.

We initially called 0300 200 3805, but then was given the number 0345 300 3900, we spoke to someone there, who transferred us to overpayments she said.

saintscouple

Yes i asked what it was about, and he said as it's just your wife's name on the letter then it will because she claimed single person tax credit when you were a couple.
Although we can't be 100% sure, I can't see this being the case as we married in 2006 after spending 2 years living together and these debts are for 2007 & 2008. That's why i asked for evidence of the forms that were completed. But i was refused this.
It is HMRC Debt Management that wrote the letter to us, I have since phoned them to agree a repayment plan on the understanding that if this is a mistake that the monies paid will be fully paid back.
Last thing we want is additional legal fees and debt collectors knocking.
I just don't understand at this point why hmrc are being uncooperative in providing evidence in to how the debt was produced.

saintscouple

Thank you, will get on to it now.
Don't mind paying for what is owed, just want peace of mind that it's not an error generated by the system or something. Doesn't seem right this is the first we have heard of it. Thanks again.

SmokieJoe

Tax credit debts over 6 years old are subject to the Limitations Act 1980, as any other ordinary debt is. Have a look here for template letters and additional info that appears to have worked when dealing with this issue. http://www.taxcc.org/TCC_News/23/11/2013/is-your-case-over-6-years-old/

SmokieJoe

blondebubbles wrote: »

They can still pursue this debt, they just can't take you to court over it.

They can pursue (send letters asking for repayment) till the cows come home, they can only enforce the debt through the courts, which is prevented by the LA 1980.

Icequeen99

SmokieJoe wrote: »

They can pursue (send letters asking for repayment) till the cows come home, they can only enforce the debt through the courts, which is prevented by the LA 1980.

They can recover it through your PAYE code if you are working or take it from future benefits (not just tax credits but certainly UC in the future). The Limitation Act only stops them taking you through the courts.

IQ

SmokieJoe

Icequeen99 wrote: »

They can recover it through your PAYE code if you are working or take it from future benefits (not just tax credits but certainly UC in the future). The Limitation Act only stops them taking you through the courts.

IQ

I don't think you'll find it is that simple to apply a deduction through the tax code or it would have been done automatically already.I think you'll find they have to be within the 6 year period or the debt can only be recovered by agreement or through the court.

Icequeen99

SmokieJoe wrote: »

I don't think you'll find it is that simple to apply a deduction through the tax code or it would have been done automatically already.I think you'll find they have to be within the 6 year period or the debt can only be recovered by agreement or through the court.

It is being done already in many cases. Process is explained here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/things-go-wrong/overpayments/repaying.htm

The legislation allows the claimant to object to it but only if they offer up another alternative otherwise HMRC will go ahead and change the tax code. No court needed and it does not need to be within the 6 year period because the Limitation Act only applies to court action.

Similarly recovery from Universal Credit as more people move over to it or from future tax credits (from October 2014) can all be done using legislative powers no need to go to court to do it and no need to seek agreement.

Obviously the OP isn't working so it won't apply for the PAYE code in his case, but he will transfer to UC eventually.

IQ

SmokieJoe

As far as I'm aware, not to cases over 6 years old. There has been a flurry of activity due to the Limitations Act being raised recently by claimants, and QSC were seeking clarification on the guidance. Adding the debt of those cases to a tax code has never been mentioned as an option, nor has it been considered in recent cases I've dealt with where the debt is more than 6 years old. If you have personal experience that differs, that's fine, but until I see evidence that it is being rolled out in these cases as national guidance I would be hesitant to accept it is the standard position.

SmokieJoe

Sorry, the qualitysupport team.