How Much Tax Overpayment to pay?

Queeny

I have (thanks to this board!) appealed for the overpayment of WFTC but sadly today I have been told I was not sucessful and HAVE to pay back £5000 overpaid to my exH when we were married. I gave it my best shot but not really surprised at the result...now I am a money expert so KNOW whats going on, instead of him doing it all! He's now left us and on the dole so its all down to me to pay back... As I am on a low wage with 2 kids and getting tax credits in my own right, this just about pays the mortgage! I also owe a small fortune (to do with mortgage) to my ex-relatives and was hoping to start contributing to this shortly...nowt left at end of the day for ordinary living! I am willing to start paying back some tax money...but what I need to know is...do you get a fixed sum or can I offer a small amount each week? I am terrified that they will take hundreds out of my new claim each month thus taking the mortgage money. I have the phone number but i cant seem to get through. Can anyone give me advice on their experience of repayments? Cheers.

irs101

Queeny

This is tricky. Why did the overpayment arise? Was it a big income rise or was there some other reason?

Presumably you have now made a new claim (without your ex-husband) and the overpayment is due on your previous claim. This could be important, because HMRC may treat this differently to when you have an ongoing award.

You need to look at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/cop26.htm (HMRC's Code of Practice) to see what the rules are. My reading of it is that they could ask you to pay all the money back immediately, but that you can spread payments over 12 months. However you can also ask for more time to pay if it causes you hardship - so effectively, yes, you an negotiate a smaller regular payment. The CoP describes some of the situations in which they will consider appeals of this nature.

I'm not sure if they will reduce the current award to account for the overpayments (as would normally be the case) - I would say they shouldn't because your new award is yours, whereas the overpayment belongs to you and your ex-husband jointly.

I strongly recommend you contacting Citizen's Advice for some advice and help in negotiating with HMRC.

irs

Queeny

Thanks for the reply...I get a little confused about all this money stuff as I am dreadful with figures. I will take all my paperwork to the CAB and see if they can sort something out for me to offer.