Tax credits overpayment

ab07ash_2

Hi all. Up until recently I have been off work for 2 years due to a back injury. For the first 12 to 18 months I was in receipt of esa. I was then told I had to move to jsa. So I notified the tax credits of the change. When I renewed the claim I disclosed the amount of benefits and my wife's income. Later in the 2016-2017 I came off jsa and went self employed but made a £3000 loss for the tax year because of start up costs. In may this year I returned to work as an employee so again I notified the tax credits and they adjusted the figures as expected.

The payments were the same from esa to jsa for benefits and tax credits so I had no reason to think I was being overpaid.

However I received an overpayment letter yesterday demanding £6700. The reason they gave is that on their system i was showing as being in receipt of income based jsa not contribution based. I have never been in receipt of income based and wouldn't have said that I had.

When I phoned to ask what it was all about they said I had to enter a payment plan and then if I wanted to, try to argue it.

Does anyone have any advice or been through anything similar?

Darksparkle

How did you originally notify them you received JSA? Did you get an awards notice after notifying the change and if so did you check it? It would show on the award if they believed you were in receipt of income based benefits.

ab07ash_2

Darksparkle wrote: »

How did you originally notify them you received JSA? Did you get an awards notice after notifying the change and if so did you check it? It would show on the award if they believed you were in receipt of income based benefits.

Thanks for the reply, I have checked the paperwork and it does say income based :mad:. up until I rang yesterday I did not know there was more than 1 type of jsa, but the advisor did say that you are normally only entitled to income based if there isn't any income or very little coming into the household. But I gave my wifes figures when I rang so surely that would have flagged something up?

It doesn't look like I have a leg to stand on does it?

Alice_Holt

I would try to dispute it (but see what Darksparkle suggests).
There is (I think) a time limit of 3 months in which to raise a dispute.
See if your local CAB can help. Your MP may also be a useful as they have high level contacts in HMRC.
Some info here:
http://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/survival-guide-dealing-tax-credit-overpayments
http://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-to-deal-with-hmrc/challenging-overpayments/
"Most challenges against overpayments will be done using the dispute process. This process is used where there is in fact an overpayment but the claimant believes that they should not pay it back because of an error by HMRC.
The dispute process is not governed by statute. Under statute, HMRC may recover all overpayments howsoever caused. HMRC set out their policy on how they exercise this discretion in Code of Practice 26. The process in COP26 is referred to as the ‘dispute process’.
The dispute process is internal to HMRC. Disputes can be lodged using form TC846 or by letter (generally preferred by advisers as it allows a full argument to be put forward)."

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Documents/Advice%20factsheets/Benefits/b-overpayment-of-tax-credits_(old).pdf
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/help-if-on-a-low-income/working-and-child-tax-credits/tax-credits-appeals/if-hmrc-says-youve-had-a-tax-credits-overpayment/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/help-if-on-a-low-income/working-and-child-tax-credits/tax-credits-appeals/disputing-paying-back-a-working-or-child-tax-credits-overpayment1/

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/602141/COP26_12_16.pdf

It may be worth a Subject Access Request to get all documentation.
http://www.taxcc.org/dispute2.htm

You will need to be persistent, I'm afraid and follow through all avenues open to you.

Icequeen99

You can try disputing but i have never seen anyone win in this situation because the award letter from DWP says contribution or income based, the guidance notes for tax credits cover the point and then the award notice makes it clear if it is income-based.

It is possible to claim tax credits and IBJSA in some rare situations and it isn't up to the tax credits advisers to flag it up. It really doesn't make a difference whether you told them incorrectly or they recorded it incorrectly, the onus passes back to you to check that award notice and tell them if anything is wrong.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't try, but i wouldn't get your hopes up and in the meantime repayment will commence.

IQ

Darksparkle

I agree with IQ. There's no harm in disputing, they can only say no, but in my experience it will be unsuccessful. You are still expected to make repayments during a dispute also.

Tax credit staff aren't trained in JSA entitlement (or any other benefits). It's not their place to question what type you are on. It's the claimants responsibility to tell them based on the letter provided by DWP and then to check the awards letter issued to ensure it is correct.