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TimeWitch
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector

United Kingdom
3 Posts

Posted - 04/11/2008 : 11:43:30

Hi there

This could be a long one!

I was a single parent claiming Tax credit quite happily. Due to problems with an ex partner (another long story) I moved house and stayed a lot with my boyfriend and my parents. I did not view myself and my boyfriend as 'living together' as he makes no financial contribution to my life, my furniture was not at his house and I spent a lot of time going between his house and my parents. This has continued for a number of years and we now also have a child together but still lead fairly seperate lives. In fact I have always paid him for the time I use his house - to help cover bills etc while myself and the kids are there.

We planned to end our arrangment and for me to move in properly and start living as a couple in September. This made sense as my daughter was starting school and so I now need to base myself somewhere permanently. I also did not renew my claim for year 08/09 because I did not think I would now be given an award. Also I have no idea what my boyfriend earns as we have always had seperate accounts and never discussed money at all!

I posted back in the summer as my claim was being investigated for the year 06/07. They asked for all sorts of information. I provided what I could but I could not provide all of it because a lot of my utility bills bank statements etc had been damaged by water when my stuff was in storage.

I receieved a letter the other day saying that they now believe there is another adult living at the same address and that they intend to adjust my claim accordingly. I wrote back explaining that until September this year we were not properly living as husband and wife etc (even checked this with the helpline and they said it was fine)and that we have no joint accounts or bills etc and they called today and left a message on my phone saying that they would like to arrange a time to visit and discuss the situation.

They lady sounded quite pleasant but having been lurking on these boards for a while I know that dealing with HMRC is far from straight forward.

Can anyone advise me? I have also recieved a letter saying I have an overpayment of 5K for last year - HOW i have no idea! I am following your guidlines after downloading the dispute pack and have sent a SAR letter as well.

Any advice is appreciated as the worry is making me physically sick. My boyfriend has no knowledge that I was even claiming tax credits thats how much we dont discuss money! If he thinks I am being investigated or may have to pay money back then he will go mad. His last girlfriend had a lot of debt and when she left him she forced him to pay her half of the equity in his house as a settlement (the house was in her name too but she had not paid anything towards it!). This is one of the reasons why he has been so worried and unable to make a committment. We finally get it together on a more permanent basis and this happens!

Please help!

auntieh
Rank; Really should become a politician

United Kingdom
619 Posts

Posted - 04/11/2008 : 22:15:25

Hi

I am not an expert but the overpayment might have come about because you did not return your annual declaration this year as you did not want to claim any longer. I think that what happens is that if you do not confirm your income by sending the annual declaration for the year just finished all of the money paid to you for that year becomes an overpayment.

I don't know how this would be remedied but hopefully someone more informed than me will be along soon to advise you.

Good luck and don't panic!

Auntie

"You can dress a pig in a suit but you can't stop it grunting"

TimeWitch
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector

United Kingdom
3 Posts

Posted - 05/11/2008 : 09:15:11

Thanks Auntie for your advice and kind words. I will ask about how to declare my income for the past year without renewing my tax credits. Maybe this will help a bit with the overpayment. I can't help but panic though

I really need to get back to the lady from HMRC today regarding the home visit - can anyone help me with any more advice regarding this situation. I am so desperate.

Thanks in advance.

Rachel01
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector

United Kingdom
40 Posts

Posted - 05/11/2008 : 12:36:06

Hi, i know how you feel, we did everything by the book and HMRC still co*ked it up,
we were landed with two debts one for �6,495 and another for �995,
Even when HMRC are to blame they will lie to cover their mistakes up.
Personally i recommend you do a SAR (Subject Access Request)basically you write to the Data Protection Unit of HMRC, requesting copies of everything they have in your files.
You can get the address for it on the how to dispute section of Tax Credits Casuaties,
at the same time phone the Tax Credit helpline and tell them you wish to dispute the overpayment,
always write down dates and times of calls to the helpline, and always get the full name of the person you talk to.
I would also advise that you find out who your local MP is and book an appointment to see him/her ASAP.
Their very useful at getting your case heard,
My MP is David laws of the Yeovil constituency and he's brilliant,
i also advise that you chase them up at every oppotunity, ring the house of commons, and the house of parliament,they seem to work quicker the more you make a fuss, so don't take their cr@p okay?
I don't mean swear at them, but don't be soft on them either okay?
It does sound like some paperwork went missing somewhere,
Did you call Tax Credits helpline to cancell the claim? because if you didn't this would explain the overpayment,
aswell as jotting down phonecall times and dates like i said get their names, i prefer writing to them, sending by special delivery, they have to sign for it then, so they can't deny they recieved it.
To avoid this in the future i suggest you and partner discuss finances, as if you are together whether living together full time or not, HMRC will see it as your living together, and penalise you for not declaring it legally.
The way you work it is you put all the household income in together, equally split the bills, and jointly claim Tax Credits as a couple.
i will never trust HMRC again, because they are willing to fob innocent families off with the blame, knowing themselves that it was a HMRC internal error, but you have to really fight to get the truth from them.
Good luck and if you need anymore advice the rest of the core teams email addresses are on the site,my email address is rachel@tcc.org

R.A. stirling

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