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lilyorchid
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector
United Kingdom
2 Posts |
 Posted - 12/05/2008 : 11:21:04
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Hi
I got a letter in October 2007 saying that I had been overpaid approximately £5,500 in 2004 and needed to pay it straight away. I contacted the office and told them I was not in a position to pay this sum of money off. They went through my incoming and outgoings and agreed. I was told that my case would be revisited in February 2008. I received another letter in February they are now trying to figure out how much I can pay off. They don't believe that I am telling the truth about my incomings and outgoings and have questioned and ridiculed me on more than one occasion and now they have asked me to send my bills in, which is not a problem.
I was wondering, why have they waited so long?
I do remember receiving a letter some time back regarding the overpayment and that there were issues that needed investigation and they would contact me once the investigation was concluded, but that was the last I heard.
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 12/05/2008 : 14:38:06
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Hi Lilyorchid, and welcome to the Tax Credit Casualties' Forum! Could I ask why discussions around your paying the alleged overpayment off took place, by the sound of it, just after HMRC announced you owed them £5,500? Did you ever have the chance to dispute recovery of this sum? Did HMRC ever tell you that you could? Or were you just told - like the rest of us - 'you cannot appeal' and thought you had no option but to painfully pay it back for years on end?
A few things I know: HMRC are NOT infallible, and it is common for them to say you have an overpayment when they are either chasing you for money you don't even owe (some people have been asked for more money back than they actually received!), or which isn't recoverable. And I am sure George Osborne was pursuing the issue of overpayments where several years had elapsed between your receiving them and HMRC deciding they were overpaid. To tell you in October 2007 that they overpaid you in 2004 is not acceptable.
Here's what I would do: I would contact the Overpayment Team, preferably in writing by recorded delivery and say you have discovered from the TAX CREDIT CASUALTIES that you had the right to dispute recovery of your overpayment, which you suspect was caused by errors in the system (we have been told by Tracey Gale, Director, Tax Credit Policy that discretion to write off overpayments is greater in the early years of tax credits as the system was rife with mistakes). Say you have reason to believe that it is illegal for HMRC to recover moneys which you were not informed were overpaid until several years later, as they should let you know within a year that something was wrong (not sure if it is a year from the mistake or year from the end of the tax year in which you were overpaid - perhaps someone will advise?) Say you want recovery to stop, will not pay anything back until you have proper explanations and a chance to dispute anything improper or illegal which HMRC has done, and want to begin a dispute. Please go to www.taxCC.org and have a good read of 'how to dispute'. I believe you can win this. Don't let them roib from you and your family just because they are bigger and uglier than you are. Take care now - and go and WIN!
Morpheus: … as long as there is a single breath in his body he'll never give up… and neither can we.
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lilyorchid
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector
United Kingdom
2 Posts |
Posted - 13/05/2008 : 12:57:38
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Thankyou Ali,
The overpayments department contacted me in October and told me that I owed them and basically that I needed to pay the money back. There was no discussion regarding disputing the payment or whether I was aware of this.
I will start the process of disputing the payments and go from there. |
Edited by - lilyorchid on 13/05/2008 16:10:20 |
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overpayment in 2004
