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PJD
Da Purple one
United Kingdom
269 Posts |
Posted - 20/09/2008 : 22:09:50
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hi Pulling,
so sorry for the delayed response. and to hear about your case.
re the 'admit mistakes' letter. surprisingly we do get those letter rather frequently. its only when you understand that HMRC allow themselves to make mistakes but don't allow us to miss spotting these mistakes that you understand why they can admit errors and still want the alleged overpayment back.
in your second paragraph you appear to be saying that the award was actually based on a figure that was not on the relevant award notice for that period, yes? if so any argument from HMRC that you should have checked the award notice is indefensible because the award notice didn't have the figure on that they were actually using to calculate the award at that time, so basically; how could you check what you weren't shown?
what they go on to describe to you bears some resemblance to the process required to go about correcting the declared income for a now completed years claim, and yes there is a time and number limit on doing this. but this process (or their mangled description of it) is not appropriate to your case if this is down to official error. i.e them using the wrong figure to calculate your award. the dispute process outlined on our main website guides you through how to dispute, and wrong figures used are a frequent cause of o/p, but in your case, if the awards notices did have a different figure on from the one they were using then you have an added point to argue, because usually victims of this sort of case have to fight to prove they did report wrong figure on awards notices etc.
and you can try step 2 of the dispute steps to try and recover copies of the calls where you did give correct details etc. i know you have spent 3 years fighting this but I'm not sure how much of the official dispute process you have actually used, as HMRC do their best to keep people from it.
yes the system is ridiculous, and we frequently hear of operators blaming the claimants because HMRC didn't design a reasonable system that actually fits with real life, where details, income, jobs and other circumstance frequently change. some how they think its our fault they set it up wrong! tell me, how unless incompetents manage to inspire such eye wateringly stupid loyalty please, cos its driving me mad.
the last 3 points you list appear to indicate that they are doing some type of investigation on you. your claim, not your previous disputes etc. have you been told they are doing an enquiry or investigation? have they explained why they are doing this? because usually these are used when they don't believe you gave them the correct details for a certain period. i.e your employer declared they paid you a different amount to what you declared you were paid, or that you were actually co habiting when you claimed you were single etc.
as for cancelling your claim! seems they haven't explained that to you either. get this - you can't! there are only 3 ways to end a claim
1) die (a bit drastic)
2) start or end a relationship (which means the old claim ends and if eligible you can make a new claim, you can't just add or remove someone from a claim)
and
3) fail to return your annual declaration pack for the previous years claim (but that will result in all the previous years award becoming an overpayment)
technically there is no other way out of the system. even when our income goes to high, we are then just considered in receipt of a 'nil award' rather than not claiming any more. and that carries with it all the obligation to check now obsolete paperwork that they continue to send and reporting all changes, which could result in suddenly receiving TC again whether you want to or not. which is why we created the refusal to renew letter here http://www.taxcc.org/newsarchivejune2008.htm
but this can only be used once you have done the annual declarations for all years you have claimed Tc otherwise that will become overpaid too. and usually the only way they can apply it to your case is if they list your relationships status has altered, but hey, they are allowed to falsify our tax records even if we're not. 
clear as mud, but i hope it helps.
cheers
PJ |
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Overpayment & £25K disregard
Posted - 15/09/2008 : 17:35:18