Tax Credits overpayment.

blackcloud

Darksparkle wrote: »

I'm not trying to be difficult but it would help if you could answer my question, did you receive an initial award for 2016/17 or any amended awards?

You say the above is from the final tax credit award for 2015/16.

Also when you got this awards notice tthat they were basing it on £12,000, did you not question it?

The only letters I can find are the ones I mentioned above, the closest thing to what you are asking for is a TAX CREDITS AWARD FOR 2016-2017 .

Also when you got this awards notice tthat they were basing it on £12,000, did you not question it?

I do not remember getting an awards notice, I did get a TAX CREDITS AWARD NOTICE FOR 2016-2017 but the only thing on the letter that could have been the wrong thing is where it says "FROM APRIL 6TH 2017 YOUR INCOME WILL BE BASED ON £12,000" but I thought that meant they were basing the tax credits award from the last tax year of £12,000 which was correct and as they use the last tax year to base what you will get in tax credits for the next tax year, I though that is what that meant. Either I am not that bright and misunderstood it thats why I did not question it and thought it mean't something else or the tax credit forms are very complicated so its not that I am not very bright.

Anyhow, please please can some one tell me this. In order to challenge the tax credits overpayment (I feel they made a mistake as I gave them the correct income over the phone), do I submit a Mandatory reconsideration OR a Dispute?

Tax credits office are saying "You can’t ask us to reconsider a decision asking you to pay back an overpayment" as it also says on page 1 of the Mandatory Reconsideration form. And I should not submit a Mandatory Reconsideration as its not applicable but the form that is applicable and that I need to complete is the Tax credits: dispute recovery of an overpayment (TC846). They said I have 3 months from the date of the letter which confirms the overpayment.

BUT Citizens advice are saying the exact opposite????? but who is right?



https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/592684/WTC_AP_01_17.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-credits-overpayment-tc846


I dont know whos right or what to do.

Darksparkle

You cannot appeal it. An appeal would be applicable where they held the wrong income and refused to correct it resulting in your award being incorrect or if you claimed as a single person and they think you are part of a couple.

Your award is correct, you have been overpaid because the income on your award was lower than you actually earned. You would then be considering a dispute which is where you agree there is an overpayment but don't believe you need to pay it back as the error is not yours. You must dispute within 3 months of:
- the date on the first letter, statement or notice you received telling you that you’ve been overpaid
- the ‘decision date’ on your Annual Review notice

I would suggest you get a clear timeline of the events leading to the overpayment to help with your dispute as some of your comments are not clear for example "I do not remember getting an awards notice, I did get a TAX CREDITS AWARD NOTICE FOR 2016-2017" which contradicts itself.

Think about:
- the date you notified them of the change
- whether you received any awards notices for 2016/17 (not any other year!)
- if you received an awards notice, did you check it and tell them it was wrong
- if you didn't receive it, did you call them and ask why
- did you make any other changes throughout the year and receive an awards notice for those and again check it.

You should also read the COP26 - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/602141/COP26_12_16.pdf

When disputing you need to show that you have met all of your responsibilities but they have not met theirs. Your responsibilities are:
You should:
• give us accurate, complete and up-to-date information
• tell us about any changes of circumstance throughout the
year so we’ve accurate and up-to-date information, the law says you must tell us about certain changes within one month of them happening (you should use the checklist TC602(SN) we sent with your award notice to check what these changes are) – to reduce the chance of building up an overpayment, we recommend that you tell us about any changes in income as soon as possible
• use the checklist TC602(SN) we send with each award notice to check all the items listed and tell us straightaway if anything is wrong, missing or incomplete

We’ll send you a corrected award notice if you tell us anything is wrong, missing or incomplete. If you don’t get an award notice within 30 days of telling us about a change in circumstance, let us know as soon as possible.

If anything is wrong, missing or incomplete you must tell us straight away. Make a note of when you got your award notice and when you told us about the mistake. We may ask you for this information to show that you acted within 30 days.

If you don’t understand your award notice, phone our helpline

I think this is where your dispute might fail, you notified them of a change and you either didn't get an updated awards notice or did and it didn't show ge updated income. A dispute won't be successful if you simply say that you notified them of a change and they didn't update it.