Letter from Concentrix re Childcare please help

realoatsy

Hi All,

if anyone can please assist in any way I will be eternally grateful as I haven't slept for a week since I've got this letter and have been feeling almost suicidal.

I received a letter from concentrix on behalf of HMRC asking for details of my chilcare provider to make sure that they (HMRC)don't overpay my tax credits for the next tax year.

I have 2 kids 8 and 6 and pay a lady £140 a week to look after them, they same lady has been doing it since they were born and does a brilliant job. When I phoned and asked her for her childminder registered number she told me that she hasn't been registered for the last 3 years and that she told me this at the time.

If she did then I genuinely can't remember it. She is of retirement age and survives on a state pension along side the amount I pay her for childminding half of which she ends up spending on my kids in the form of food, clothes birthday and xmas presents she even brings them presents when she heads away on breaks.

I'm now worried sick that I will have to pay back 3 years of tax credits to HMRC - my wife and I do not earn huge amounts of money and the tax credit money helped us provide a comfortable if non extravagent life for our kids.

Can anyone adivise me, we don't want to give up our childminder who we are all very happy with especially the kids, on the other hand if we are asked to pay back all these tax credits it will cripple us financially, all over an inadvertant oversight.

I haven't yet sent the letter back, I was thinking of sending it in with the registration number that I had and hope that it may still go through on their system, then make the amendment on this years tax credit return.

If anyone can provide and help or words of comfort to help me sleep please do.

Darksparkle

Replied on the other thread -

sorry but you can't lie to get yourself out of this by giving a registration number that you know is no longer valid. Then you could be seen to be deliberately and fraudulently claiming which could lead to more serious action than paying back an overpayment.

You will need to admit that your childminder stopped being registered from X date and allow them to decide when they overpayment will go back to.

You can continue to use this childminder if you wish but cannot seek the financial support through tax credits. Or you could find a registered provider and continue to claim.

Icequeen99

I don't have much to add to what DS has said other than you need to tell HMRC the truth. You will most likely have an overpayment for 2015/16 and the first part of this tax year.

IQ

georgiasdragons

They might only be looking at the last 12 months anyway and might not go further back.

What dates on your letter are they looking into?

Make sure you send everything they need warning they take 8 weeks to finalise

CakeCrusader

I had a problem like this. My son was struggling in his after school club, so I hired a nanny. She said she was registered, and I was in the process of being diagnosed with something nasty so I didn't check (so this was absolutely my own fault). She vanished when I told her that I needed proof and asked her for her registration number, and I had to pay back a year's worth of childcare (7 years later I'm still paying it as they took little bits each month). Just be honest with them.

realoatsy

They have just said they are looking into year 2015/2016, if it was just that year we could just about handle it.

Icequeen99

realoatsy wrote: »

They have just said they are looking into year 2015/2016, if it was just that year we could just about handle it.

Given where we are in the year - they will most likely cover 15/16 and the first two months of this year as well.

Unlikely they will go back further, but you should be aware they have the power to do so but it is rarely used.

IQ