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Mc.leach
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector
United Kingdom
1 Posts |
 Posted - 23/10/2008 : 17:27:07
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My ex pratner and myself managed to get a £3k overpaymentin 2004...it was the 1st ever claim we made and they managed to zero his income at their end. I admittedly *hangs head in shame* didnt notice this, didnt understand the forms, it was a new claim so I had nothing to compare to etc and so 9 months down the line when I rang to report a change in circumstances...it all suddenly became apparent there had been huge overpayment. Well, long story short, not long after he left. Now...when he left we tried to appeal..got no where. 4 yrs later and I have NO contact with the ex at all. They are still asking for payment and while single I told them I couldnt afford repayments on the scale they wanted...they said they would review the situation soon. 12 months later I decided to give in and pay to get them off my back, im sick of it all and want it to finish. Every claim Ive had since has had errors..I now scrutinise EVERYTHING!! apparently I told them I was In prison NOT!!, They managed to switch all my earnings around..Idiots!, They even sent ALL correspondence (inc child benefit) to ANOTHER address, and said they had no record of me at MY address of 4yrs!!
Anyway, I have decided, that I should have checked better and was willing to pay 50% (my half of the debt) in full, but they say as Its in both names...if they fail to get him to pay...ill have to foot it all!!....are they for real, and would a judge do that to me??
I may aswell keep my half of the money now and get the CCJ/prison sentence/baliffs anyway......
Oh and I have just paid back £600 overpayment from a more recent oversight though no one was in error...im trying to be a reasonable human being!!
Do I go get legal advice or is it a waste of time?
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2008 : 08:00:36
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Hi Mc.leach - sorry that you have not yet had a reply. I believe your post got buried by other posts starting at the same time, and went unnoticed. Maybe this post will bring it to the fore again so that others can add their comments? If other posters find that their questions elsewhere have been inadvertently missed, maybe they can just post another quick comment, and bring their thread to the top again?
Anyway, I would advise you go to www.taxCC.org and follow the dispute pathway there. I notice you say, 'they managed to zero his income at their end. I admittedly *hangs head in shame* didnt notice this, didnt understand the forms, it was a new claim so I had nothing to compare to etc', but I would say that you have nothing to feel ashamed about, because back in 2004 when this happened, HMRC did not flag up to claimants (as they do now) the importance of checking and double-checking their 'work'. It's going to make it harder for you to argue that you 'met all your responsibilities' under the new COP26 which HMRC uses to decide if it should write off your overpayment or not, but then again, those 'responsibilities' were only made clearer after the event, and there are always reasons why claimants don't spot official errors. We just have to work a little harder to help you win this. I was also stitched up by HMRC zeroing my salary then blaming me for not seeing the zero on an award notice, but with perseverance (stubbornness!) I have won. It can be done. What I would really advise you do is launch a dispute anyway, tell them you expect a proper explanation of what went wrong and why they zeroed your partner's salary and caused this mess in the first place, and ask them for your SARN data. It's this data which tells a better story than an 'explanation' HMRC will send you. You need to know that HMRC have a concealment policy which means they won't tell claimants about errors they have made themselves unless the claimant specifically asks. Your task will be to identify the errors HMRC has made, and flag them up to HMRC. There are people on this forum who can 'read' SARN data documents and tell you, from the meaningless letters and numbers used as codes, exactly what the Advisor did.
I have started working on a document listing important government promises regarding tax credits. It's my view that it's all just fine words, and what the government say they do when it comes to tax credit overpayment recovery, they don't. It's a work in progress, and just started (I start lots of things which don't always get very far, not helped by having a full time job and a life outside tax credits!), but you might want to bring some of this to the attention of your MP? It basically suggests that discretion is used by HMRC to remit overpayments where it causes financial hardship and where people's prospects of improving their financial situation seems unlikely to change for the better. Smells a little like bull xxxx to me, but if the underlying principle of tax credits was to help the lower paid,someone in high places has entirely missed the point!
Important government promises re tax credits:
Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's policy is on recovering tax credit overpayments when the individual has no means to repay the debt. [205999]
Jane Kennedy: When seeking to recover any of the debts for which it is responsible, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a duty to strike a balance between a customer's ability to pay and its responsibility to recover monies properly owing to the Exchequer.
HMRC's policy on the recovery of tax credits overpayments is set out in its Code of Practice 26 "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?" available at:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/forms-leaflets.htm
This makes it clear that HMRC will take into account a customer's ability to pay to ensure that vulnerable customers do not experience financial hardship.
Where immediate, full payment is likely to cause the customer financial hardship, HMRC will normally reach an agreement to recover the debt over a longer period, usually 12 months. Where it is clear that a customer will still not be able to repay through such a staged arrangement, because they have little disposable income or assets, HMRC will normally suspend recovery but review the customer's circumstances at a later date to see if it would be possible to restart recovery because their financial circumstances have improved. Where it seems that a customer's financial circumstances are unlikely to change, for example because they are on long-term benefit or are seriously ill, HMRC will remit the debt.
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080520/text/80520w0009.htm
No doubt others will be along shortly with more case-specific advice. I can see there have been lots of HMRC errors just from the outline you give, and these need to be brought out and HMRC held to account.
Use the COP26 - quote HMRC's responsibilities back at them and give examples of where they have failed you. This has worked for many people I am in touch with. Okay, your responsibility may have been to check and flag up their work, but their responsibility should surely have been to make this explicit at the time? Did any of us know back in 2004 what a mess this was all going to be?
Good luck!
Morpheus: They are the gatekeepers, they are guarding all the doors and holding all the keys.
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£3000+ overpayment...help!
