Is it time for a tax credit protest march?

chugalug

I suppose the main problem with Tax Credits is that they are not transparent. With the old WFTC you could see the calculation and could follow why you were getting what you were getting. With this system, nothing is simple. I don't agree that its easy to work out what you should be getting - I've worked with Housing Benefits and the benefit system for years and find the whole thing very confusing. If you have any changes during the year then the problems start. The other problem I can see is that Tax Credits are administered by the Inland Revenue (a punitive system) and not by the DWP. This means they are outside the usual benefit rules and established caselaw for appeals, supersessions etc. Advisers simply didnt know how to do TC appeals at first, it took over a year before any adviser even saw an appeal bundle from the IR! - and advisers were often ignored by the IR. As far as the IR are concerned, if you;ve been overpaid you pay it back with a fine. Not a system used to dealing with people on a very limited income.

irs101

chugalug wrote:

As far as the IR are concerned, if you;ve been overpaid you pay it back with a fine.

That's not entirely true. You only pay a fine if you have misclaimed e.g. you've told them you work 30 hours when you don't, or something like that.

If you have a normal overpayment, due to a change in income (the vast majority of overpayments) there is no fine and you repay a proportion of your ongoing award until it is paid off.

irs