Child Tax Credit Overpayments

[meagain]

Just in case anyone is considering making an appeal, some things to remember:

 

For your appeal to be successful, short of trying to shame them into giving you the money by threatening the use of MPs and press (those with a legitimiate case should stay in touch), the general rule is that you won't have to pay it back or lose entitlement in future years if you can demonstrate that you had "good reason to believe the payments were correct". This means you have exercised due diligence, and can prove it.

 

The reason they say "good reason" is that they do not expect you to know what you were entitled to, only to go to reasonable lengths before satisfying yourself that what they tell you is correct. Put simply, don't blindly assume everything is correct. They do not know how much to assess, you have to tell them. Compliance section runs checks against P14s (if your company uses standard multi-parts, your P60 comes off the back of the P14), but there are various deductions that you might be entitled to that the P14 wouldn't tell them about.

 

Note that it is not enough to simply say "We had good reason to believe payments were correct". You have to be able to demonstrate this. It is not a reasonable to assume the government will always get things right - there is a human element involved, and humans are prone to failure.

 

Things that will count towards "good reason" are (not exhaustive):

• You checked all the award notices, and found no errors in the circumstances - therefore you assumed the calculated figure was correct (this is a reasonable assumption to make).
  
• You checked the notices, found errors, and reported them promptly (responsibility of the sender ends with Royal Mail, so proof of posting should do).
  
• You didn't receive your renewal paperwork, called/wrote to HMRC and were told you didn't need to file any.
  

 

If you have corresponded with HMRC frequently and can produce this, then you can imply that had their been an error, it would have been picked up on, or that you have pointed out their mistakes more than once. If you have done at least the above, your appeal should succeed without issue.

 

The following by themselves will typically not count towards "good reason":

• You assumed that the figures you were told were correct without checking your circumstances on your notice.
  
• Your payments changed, you queried it on the phone, were told it was correct, and left it at that.
  
• You "didn't receive" the relevant award notice. (as before, it's their responsibility to send it, not to ensure it is received)
  
• You were told there was a system error affecting your claim (you can still appeal on other grounds - see below)
  
• You posted your renewal paperwork close to the deadline (you will have had anything up to 5-6 months to return it)
  
• You didn't receive your renewal paperwork, and assumed you didn't need any.
  

 

Several of the above will actually make your appeal less likely to succeed, as they may portray you as careless.

 

Note that if you are told that there is a system error preventing them from maintaining your claim correctly, you do not have good reason to believe payments are correct (as you have been told that they are not). In these cases, you will be instead be appealing the overpayment on the grounds of official error. In most cases of system errors, there will be notes on your record from someone who has tried to correct it and failed - I would imagine they would be taken into account without the need for you to issue a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to see them first.

 

Remember, the system may be broken, but you have to at least make an effort to work around it.

[meagain]

You can't send evidence that you didn't claim (a problem with logic more than anything else). Demand (in writing) that they send evidence that you claimed for the period concerned, and then show whatever comes back to be incorrect. If they do not comply, invoke the DPA and send a request to the Data Protection Unit in Longbenton (the address will be in the Register of Data Controllers at the ICO website, or somewhere on the HMRC website - failing both of those, you can always ask them for the address on the phone).

[meagain]

HMRC do not usually charge a fee for SARs. You can call the Data Proection Unit (0191 2257575) for all the necessary details such as what identifying information they would prefer (typically name, address and NI number), and the request goes to:

 

HM Revenue & Customs

Data Protection Subject Access Unit

Room BP5001

Benton Park View

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE98 1ZZ

 

This PDF has some useful information, but it may still be worth calling them first if you still have any queries.

[meagain]

No there are different sections for different things and i suspect this is how mistakes are made. Change of circs deals with just that, if you phone the helpdesk you don't get the person who dealt with your claim, but they are both dependent on that person for accurate information and they don't always get it, hence the problems multiply.

 

Two issues at hand:

 

1. Income assessable for tax and income assessable for Tax Credits are not the same thing, and they cannot make the assumption from one to the other. They do generate lists of cases where income stated on the P14 (the 3-part form your P60 come from) doesn't match the income recorded on the TC system, but nothing is done automatically.

 

2. TC600 claim forms and TC603D renewal declarations are processed by computer. That said, the computer makes no assumptions, so if it can't read any part of your application, it gets passed to a human, who enters the information precisely as it appears - mistakes and all (so no arguments are raised over what precisely you put on your form).