Thanks for this. But what if my appeal fails?? or I decide to stop the appeal??

Thanks for your reply. I will try and give you a better idea. I have been keeping the earnings down ,so I can keep claiming for HB. I know this is wrong,but there is no way that I could afford the £1400 based on my earnings and live. As for businesses to grow,I know... I am really at my wits end.

Thanks for the advice. Really appreciated.

Hi All, My head is all of the place at the moment due to letters from HMRC's Tax Credit Office. I will give you some background info. I have been claiming WTC, CTC and Housing Benefit since 2012 due to low income. I had been working just a few hours here and there. TBH, I deliberately kept the hours down as the total benefits outweighed any potential income. The " Benefit Trap" so to speak. Last year, I decided to go down the Self - Assessment route and contacted HMRC and was issued with an UTR. I have kept my official earnings at around 10K,so not to earn too much. In June this year, I received a letter stating that according to the WTC people my working hours were ' zero' and had been since May 2014.This is when I became "Self - employed". I requested a Mandatory Reconsideration. I received a reply about 7 weeks later saying I was not entitled to WTC because they have no record of my hours worked since becoming self- employed. They have requested further info 1. Copies of advertisements placed ( I have never placed any!) 2. A breakdown of the hours you worked in a week. ( I have a breakdown of the amount worked,but not the hours. Should I break this down to say an average of 27 hours a week over a month? ) 3.Invoices for any work you have done. ( haven't got any,but could work on that.) To add further woe, I was given until 14 August to provide this, but I only opened the letter last Friday as I had been out of the country for 5 weeks.... As I am sure some of you know for the Mandatory Reconsideration the HMRC give two options? 1. Choose this option if you DON'T want to proceed and withdraw the request and repay any over payments ... or 2. Choose this option ... and supply the requested information. I am tempted to go with option 1 as it seems like a lot of hassle,but have not decided yet. I want to call them tomorrow,but am seeking some advice here first. However, I think my biggest worry is potentially losing my HB. I live in London with my wife and child and this would be life changing. If I did choose Option 1 and ended my request for a Mandatory Reconsideration, would this affect my HB?? I know I am supposed to inform my local housing authority of any changed,but haven't. I seemed to have spun a right web for myself,however, writing this feels like the first step. Hopefully, some of you can advise? Thank you, Bothered One