Tax Credits Been an absolute fool

[mercury40]

Hi all

This is the most difficult thing ive ever written,started claiming child tax credits and working tax credits about 10 yrs ago.

about a year after claiming partner started a part time job working 5 hours per week

Stupidly took advice from workmates that i didnt need to inform HMRC shortly after this partner got more hrs

now working 15hrs week stupidly didnt tell HMRC.

Why i listened to these people i dont know

As the years rolled on i felt i was on runaway train i wanted to tell HMRC but was afraid of the outcome.

I now know i should have informed them straight away but i didnt now my life feels like its come to an end

having real dark thoughts as im convinced we are going to jail losing my job losing our house.

Cant believe ive been so stupid as im writing this im shaking like a leaf cant eat cant sleep

i really do feel my life has come crumbling down.All i want to do is pay the money back somehow but think HMRC will want to

convict me because of the 9yrs of deceit.Still cant beleive ive got myself in this situation it really wasnt intentional it just snowballed out of control.

Any advice from you kind people would be much appreciated

[EagerElephant]

Hi mercury

 

Have you had a letter from HMRC or has this just been playing on your mind?

 

What other benefits do you claim?

[mercury40]

No letter just been playing on my mind,got my renewal in but havnt sent it in yet dont have any other benefits

Not coping very well cant bear the thought of going to jail losing job losing home etc

wish i could just pay the overpayment back. thanks for your reply

cant believe how out of control this has got its totally ruling my life

[paulabe71]

Hi mercury40,

Someone I know was in a simular situation and it was not as bad as you might think! From what I've been told, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong but they over estimate your wages by 2500, so offsetting this amount against your partners wages may not be as bad!

With regards to paying an overpayment they take a payment plan that as long as you stick to you should be fine!

Do yourself a favour and call them, nothing is worth making yourself ill over! Good luck x

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi Mercury and welcome to CAG.

 

You really must call them. I know you feel absolutely sick but that is not going to go away and the longer you leave it the worse it could get. It will be much worse if they start to investigate you.

 

I'm going to get a couple of other people to your thread if they are around because they will give you good advice.

 

DD

[scotgal68]

Fill in the renewal, include your partners income for last year, see what that generates, that is all I can suggest. You may be lucky and they will issue a new award notice taking into account your partners earnings. It might highlight initiate action, I honestly can't say. But it will be a starting point to getting your claim corrected x

[Desperate Daniella]

Scotgal is more experienced than I am so I would follow her advice for now.

[mercury40]

Thanks all

Will send renewal in see what happens

[mercury40]

Hi all

Been a while but my life has just taken a turn for the worse

got a letter from HMRC to say they are checking my claim as it

does not tally up with info they hold about me.The letter says if i agree with the info they hold about me which is correct

to do nothing and they will amend last years award and give me a penalty if they feel its just.But at this moment in time i feel absolutely suicidle twice as worse as i was before cannot cope with life at the moment

feel the are definately going to check previous years and if they do i will go to prison lose my job lose my house all because i was not brave enough to confront the situation.

dreading the next letter they send me as i think its going to be one that says they are going to prosecute.cant believe ive totally ruined the rest of my life in this way have never been dishonest in my life

any advice would be much appreciated

[What should I do?]

What info do they hold about you? Are they checking your case because your payments for 2012-2013 were based on your income only & your renewal shows income for you & your partner?

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi mercury,

 

This is not worth dying over and you are not going to commit suicide.

 

I have felt as you do in the past and I'm glad I'm still here, although life is far from perfect.

 

My sister actually did kill herself in 2005 and you cannot imagine how every day my mother and my other sister and I wish we had done things differently on the day she died. It all came down to bad timing. We have huge regrets, and the shock and pain are indescribable. We will never get over it.

 

You have a child (children?) and they need you. You can't wish them to grow up without a mother. My daughter is the only thing that kept me going and as a mother you have to do the same.

 

What about your partner? He would be devastated too.

 

At the moment they have said to do nothing and they will amend "last year's award." They haven't said anything about checking previous years. They have said they may give you a penalty, but they haven't mentioned anything about prosecution.

 

You, as a mum, have to be brave now and wait to see what they say. You don't know that you have ruined the rest of your life. You have to hang on for your family's sake.

 

Please don't be silly. I really do know how you feel.

 

Hugs,

 

DDxx

[mercury40]

the award was based on my income but they have info

of both our incomes.

Thanks for the kind words DD,sorry about your sister will try to look on the bright side but am finding

it desperately difficult never ever been so stressed and frightened in my life

will just have to wait for next letter

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi mercury,

 

I would be just as stressed and frightened as you. I wouldn't be able to see a bright side either.

 

It's a truly horrible situation to be in and all you can do is get through one day at a time.

 

Come on here any time you need to talk about it. The waiting in these situations is the most awful thing. Well, that and trying to keep up appearances at work and pretending everything is fine.

 

Try and be strong.

 

DDxx

[What should I do?]

In that case it sounds as though they will work out your overpayment & possibly give you a fine - try not to worry, their priority is to get the money back.

[introducing]

Any update on your overpayment? Would be helpful to know any outcome so far if you are able.

[mercury40]

still waiting for brown envelope to drop through letterbox

all this waiting is stressing me out

[Desperate Daniella]

It's very difficult, I know, and especially at this time of year.

 

Hopefully your case is just going through the system and you'll hear from them soon.

 

Hang on.

 

Hugs,

 

DDx

[blondebubbles]

What was the error? Did you have a partner they didn't know about or you didn't include your partners income?

 

All that is likely to happen is you'll get an overpayment.

[Desperate Daniella]

Hello blondebubbles,

 

That's what I'm thinking and I hope we are both right.

 

DD

[mercury40]

Hi all

never told them about partners income

got six letters from them today 3 each

letter 1 provisional tax credit decision

letter 2 amended tax credit decision

letter 3 final tax credit decision

only for last year owe them a couple of hundred pounds but havent asked for the payment

got everything crossed that thats the last of it but still cant settle

thanks all

[blondebubbles]

If you still have a claim they'll look at taking any overpayments back from that.

[Desperate Daniella]

Hi there,

 

That sounds good.

 

Have they shown any deductions in their workings out? They may just have included that in their calculations.

 

DD

[scotgal68]

They will issue you with a new award and it will show a reduction due to overpayment to be recovered x

[Desperate Daniella]

Apologies, when you referred to the last letter I thought it was the Award.

 

Scotgal knows much more about this than I do and from what she's saying it's looking good!!!

 

DDxxx

[scotgal68]

DD you know just as much as me now, we've been on these Tax Credits threads for yonks now

Hopefully, the new award will take care of the overpayment. mercury can get a wee bit of peace. Prosecution and losing her home isn't going to happen x