Child tax credit overpayments.

Confusedalexa

Hello
I have not worked for the last 3 years and have been claiming child tax credit for 3 young children. My husband has worked full time throughout. I started a new job in January and we have been told we now have an overpayment of £5000+. My husband earned about 26k for the whole tax year and from January to April I earned less than 3.5k. Is it correct that then we have to pay the whole year of child tax credits back even though we were eligible for them before January when I started working?
Any help or advice would be appreciated thank you. 

poppy12345

Tax credits is based on earnings in the previous tax year with a £2,500 disregard, which means if your earnings reduce or increase by more than this amount then your payments may change.

When you started work did you report the changes and tell them your expected earnings? If you didn't then you should have because all changes should be reported. https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-do-tax-credits-work/understanding-the-disregard/

sheramber

Tax credits are based on the yearly income so yes, if your income for the year is over the limit , then all the payments received are an overpayment.