tax credits

Mum2Boys_2

Hi all looking for some more advice.
I have received a letter from tax credits asking me to give them all the details of my child care for the previous year. They think I may have been over paid. The trouble is there were alot of changes last year which I always contacted them about and I can't answer some of the questions as I don't know the answers. For example they have asked me for the dates that my child care changed well I can't answer all of these as there were 3 changes. I always contacted them of the changes so do you think it would be acceptable for me to send them all the childcare invoices along with a letter. This has made me really anxious as they are talking about penalties etc and making me feel like a criminal when all I want to do is go out and work and support my family as independently as I can. They have asked me how I worked out my childcare costs well the answer to that is that told them how much I was paying and to who and the advisor worked it out for me. Admittedly there has been a few weeks where they haven't gone into childcare and I didn't have to pay due to sickness or being off or even when family came to see them.
I am happy to pay back any overpayment as I wouldn't of been entitled to it but what kind of penalty can I expect, am I looking at court and maybe a criminal record? I have estimated an overpayment of no more then £500 for the year.
Many thanks.

Mum2Boys_2

Just the costs, I was part time then my partner lost his job so I worked all the time for a month which boosted my annual income quite a bit and I'm paying an overpayment I incurred from that as my partner was only without a job for 2 weeks.

Mum2Boys_2

It was just really the ones about the childcare changes.

Icequeen99

Mum2Boys wrote: »

Hi all looking for some more advice.
I have received a letter from tax credits asking me to give them all the details of my child care for the previous year. They think I may have been over paid. The trouble is there were alot of changes last year which I always contacted them about and I can't answer some of the questions as I don't know the answers. For example they have asked me for the dates that my child care changed well I can't answer all of these as there were 3 changes. I always contacted them of the changes so do you think it would be acceptable for me to send them all the childcare invoices along with a letter. This has made me really anxious as they are talking about penalties etc and making me feel like a criminal when all I want to do is go out and work and support my family as independently as I can. They have asked me how I worked out my childcare costs well the answer to that is that told them how much I was paying and to who and the advisor worked it out for me. Admittedly there has been a few weeks where they haven't gone into childcare and I didn't have to pay due to sickness or being off or even when family came to see them.
I am happy to pay back any overpayment as I wouldn't of been entitled to it but what kind of penalty can I expect, am I looking at court and maybe a criminal record? I have estimated an overpayment of no more then £500 for the year.
Many thanks.

It doesn't matter about the times you didn't pay, because childcare costs are based on estimates when a change occurs. So providing the estimate you gave was reasonable it is fine if it didn't exactly turn out right. There shouldn't be an overpayment unless you estimated the costs wrong in the first place.

IQ

Mum2Boys_2

Well whenever I call them up the advisors ask me what I pay and to who, they then work out the average amount for me.

LocoLoco

OP, a friend of mine didn't report a number of changes and was overpaid quite a large sum (in the thousands rather than the hundreds). There was no criminal element talked about by HMRC, they just arranged to get the money repaid so I don't think you need to worry about them taking any action other than asking for the overpayment back.

Mum2Boys_2

Thank you all for your replies.