Tax Credits Overpayments

System
System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
edited June 18 in AAT member discussion
Has anyone had any succes in appealing tax credit overpayments?

To win, you have to prove that:

1. TCO made a mistake
2. It was reasonable to think the payments were right.

According to the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5275036.stm from April to August, 2006,
on average 30,000 people a month have complained about official errors, but in April, the last month for which figures are available, just 100 families had their tax credit overpayments written off.
The stock answer seems to be that it was unreasonable to believe that the payments were correct, even if they matched those shown on the award notice.

And when you ask questions, TCO seems to simply repeat a formulaic response in different words, apparently without hearing anything you've said.

Has anyone else had this problem? The senior partner at the practice where I work has tasked me with dealing with this issue on behalf of our clients. As far as I can tell, there's not much chance of reversing their decisions, even if they admit to being wrong.

Any help would be very welcome.

Michael

Comments

  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Tax Credits Overpayments

    I have been dealing with the tax credits department for over a year now for one client. They take over 6 weeks to respond to a letter and then don't seem to have taken any notice of the information provided. They are a nightmare, but I believe in perseverance!
  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Tax Credits Overpayments

    That's exactly my point. All you get is the same standard answer regurgitated in different words . . . And that's if you get a response at all!

    The Agent's Helpline is not better, either.
  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Tax Credits Overpayments
    2. It was reasonable to think the payments were right

    that is so ridiculous - the calculation to arrive at what you're entitled to is so complex - how's anyone supposed to know if they're getting the right amount?!

    When I was pregnant with my daughter I was trying to decide how many hours a week to work and what childcare options to consider and spent a whole day on the phone to HMRC trying to get someone to explain to me how CTCs are calculated. All they could say was 'enter your circumstances into the online form and it will tell you'. Eventually I spoke to a scottich man who explained it to me, but he was so scottish and so softly-spoken that I couldn't hear a word!

    What I'm trying to say is that unless you're comparing your tax credit amounts with your friends or something then there's no way that Jo Bloggs should doubt that what they're receiving is correct. Although I'm sure that HMRC are looking for more hard evidence than that.
  • System
    System Posts: 100,534 🤖 Admin 🤖
    Re:Tax Credits Overpayments

    You can argue that the payments into your bank account matched those notified on your award, so they must have been right. Guess again.

    I had one claim where they said, effectively, "We made a mistake and used the wrong figures. We told we we used the right figures. And it's your fault that we used the wrong figures and didn't tell you!" Now, how can you argue with that logic?!? :roll:

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