13 year old tax credits bill

Loan_soldier

So my mum has recently received a letter from a debt collection agency claiming she owed 2 years worth of tax credits from 2001-2003.

She reckons she was entitled to the payments as it was when I was still a kid so most likely child tax credits.

The debt collectors will not give her any information as to why she has to pay back these monies.

Is there any way to dispute this with hmrc?

What is the best plan of action?

Thanks in advance,

zagfles

First thoughts are that it's a scam.

The current tax credits didn't exist in 2001 so what exactly is it they say is overpaid? If it's genuine it will either be the Working Families Tax Credit or the Children's Tax Credit which was an income tax allowance not a payable benefit. I think there was a Disabled Tax Credit as well.

Loan_soldier

She is pretty sure it was children tax credit.

Basically HMRC mentioned in passing that she owed them.

Then a year or so later she received the debt collection letter.

I am pretty sure it's genuine.

Loan_soldier

It was first mentioned by the tax credits dept when she was on the phone to them.

I will tell her to get on the phone to them with regards to definite dates etc.

Thanks for your help.

Nickynoo1

and would it be statute barred????

zagfles

Tax credits of today will have nothing to do with the children's tax credit, this is not the same as the current child tax credit, it was an income tax allowance. If that was overpaid they'd usually collect by PAYE.

Spendless

There was a top up income available to low paid prior to Aril 2003, as a couple of my friends, who were single paresnts used to receive it.

This wasn't the tax allowance for people earning under so much with children,which came in in 2001 and had replaced the married mans allowance which finished in 2000.

I *think* what my friends used to receive was called 'working families tax credit'. I tried google and see it's mentioned in the link below as a predecessor of the current system

http://www.revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/policy/research/where-it-all-started/

Horseunderwater

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Credit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Income_Supplement - those are the 2 I remember my cousin getting.
Not sure what the £10/week I used to get extra via my pay was called, but it was from 2001-2002 & became what is called the family element worth £545/year under the new system. That was all we ever got & due to an error of being overpaid in 04/5 we never got that as it went to the overpayment.