Tax credits woe

graham230968

I'm a joiner and over the last few years work has been scarce at times to say the least! During this period I have been in and out of work, I even tried taxi driving (never again). We have received working tax credits while I have been in employment and my partner has always dealt with this, giving them the correct information whenever they needed it and also informing them of any change in our circumstances. Due to the fact that according to them everything is based on last years earnings we have found ourselves in a situation at times where I have been earning good wages and still received tax credits. My partner has told them verbally about this but they have always said not to worry as it's based on last years earnings. Then out of the blue we receive a letter, informing us that we have to pay £6000 back as we have been overpaid!! I have always been honest and upfront with anything like this, I'm fully up to date with my national insurance contributions etc, and this just cannot be right. The construction industry is just about picking up, we are trying to get back on our feet and this will knock us back ten fold.
It makes me wonder sometimes whether there is any real incentive to get up on a cold winters morning to go to work, when other people who don't work will never encounter problems like this and seem to enjoy a stress free life?
What have we done wrong?

whitewing

I would get all your paperwork together and go and see your MP. See if you can get it checked and then come to some arrangement. It isn't going to go away so you do need to deal with it.

Icequeen99

graham230968 wrote: »

I'm a joiner and over the last few years work has been scarce at times to say the least! During this period I have been in and out of work, I even tried taxi driving (never again). We have received working tax credits while I have been in employment and my partner has always dealt with this, giving them the correct information whenever they needed it and also informing them of any change in our circumstances. Due to the fact that according to them everything is based on last years earnings we have found ourselves in a situation at times where I have been earning good wages and still received tax credits. My partner has told them verbally about this but they have always said not to worry as it's based on last years earnings. Then out of the blue we receive a letter, informing us that we have to pay £6000 back as we have been overpaid!! I have always been honest and upfront with anything like this, I'm fully up to date with my national insurance contributions etc, and this just cannot be right. The construction industry is just about picking up, we are trying to get back on our feet and this will knock us back ten fold.
It makes me wonder sometimes whether there is any real incentive to get up on a cold winters morning to go to work, when other people who don't work will never encounter problems like this and seem to enjoy a stress free life?
What have we done wrong?

Tax credits are based on last year's earnings but not if this year's income increases by £5,000 or more or decreases by 2,500 or more compared to last year.

Also, if you estimated a low income this year, and then that estimate turned out to be too low, that could also cause an overpayment.

Despite what TCO told you, you are responsible for checking the information on the award notices. If there is an overpayment it sounds like it is due to incorrect income figures. If that is the case, then sometime in the year your award notices would have shown an estimate that turned out to be wrong or an incorrect figure and you should have told TCO about that or checked that they had recorded what you told them. As long as the info on the award notice was right - what they told you wouldn't matter as the system would calculate the tax credits correctly.

The only way to dispute it would be if for example you rang up to say your new income was X and they didn't amend the system because they said that it was based on last year's income so it didn't matter. If that happened, you will need to ask them for the call recordings so you can use them in your dispute.

IQ

graham230968

I am going to ask to speak to a senior at tax credits anyway, as the customer service representative was rude on the phone to my partner. It's very difficult to forecast my earnings for the year, Every company has different rates, add to that the hours which can vary dramatically, it can be a bog standard 40 hour week one minute and a 70 hour week the next.
They can stick their tax credits in future - the money will probably go to some bone idle person who does everything they can but work but I have gone past caring.