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Original poster

I've been stupid RE Tax Credits

114 replies

IsItOKToPanic · 01/02/2018 14:32

I've NC'd and made a new account for this one..

I know I'm going to get flamed but I need some information.

DP and I are claiming tax credits as we have 1 DC. We get approximately £400p/m. When it came to renewing in July I truthfully put our annual income down for the previous year and as DP was on a temporary contract, I said that the figure was unlikely to change.

DP has had a new job as of October last year. Taking our annual income to £25k. I haven't declared this yet as I'm terrified of what might happen and we needed the money.

I'm thinking of telling them in April when we get DPs p60. DP thinks we should just leave it until we renew in June.

Does anyone know what will happen? Will I go to prison? Will they just take money out of my bank? Please anyone with experience of this? Any advice welcome.

OP posts:
brizzledrizzle · 01/02/2018 16:37

When I had an overpayment that was their fault they were horrible and wanted to know all my monthly outgoings and said that paying for activities that my children did was a luxury and insisted that I paid more, I had to scrape the barrel then to find the money that they demanded.

PyongyangKipperbang · 01/02/2018 16:37

It isnt going to go away so leaving it until April or June is just going to make the problem bigger. If you would struggle with repayments now, how on earth will you manage them if they are twice as much?

Ring them today, sort it out and it will be over and done with. Leave it and you will spend every single day for the next 4 months worrying about it.

Sallystyle · 01/02/2018 16:43

I had an overpayment and it has been really fucking hard to manage it.

It ended last week and it couldn't come soon enough.

They wouldn't let me pay it over a year, let alone two years!

I would avoid an overpayment if I was you.

Elementtree · 01/02/2018 16:45

Well, if they are going to go through your personal finances and decide how much you can afford to pay and, so long as they don't charge interests, you'd be better off taking the two extra payments and put them towards the initial repayments. This only works if you use the extra time to tighten up your finances and don't spend it.

TheWickerWoman · 01/02/2018 16:48

Don’t worry about getting in trouble, ours is always all over the place as my husband is self employed so his earnings fluctuate. BUT you should think about telling them about the rise in income ASAP so you don’t build up a bigger debt come renewal time.

hatethehmrc · 01/02/2018 16:50

Not actually true. There are fixed percentages they can take, depending on income and whether taking more will cause serious hardship.

Please do read my thread as a PP said. I did actually tell them about my change of job and am still getting 100% of my payments stopped, leaving me and my DD homeless and jobless. If you can survive without them, then that's different I suppose. But honestly, they're fucking heartless and don't give a shit about hardship and I don't want anybody else to go through what I'm going through atm.

MissDuke · 01/02/2018 16:55

Battleax maybe in theory, but there's loads of examples on here and other sites of people ending up with nothing :-/

123namechanged · 01/02/2018 16:57

If you're worried about speaking on the phone, report the change online?

DH started a new job recently and I changed it all online

Kahlua4me · 01/02/2018 17:01

It would be best to tell them now so you don’t accrue too much of an overpayment.

We are paying back, through no fault of our own as it was all to do with self employment and the lady on the telephone ticking the wrong box which apparently I should have known! Anyway, I am on a repayment scheme and they just asked how much I could afford to pay a month and worked it out from there. It is interest free too so doesn’t affect me really.

Battleax · 01/02/2018 17:02

Hate there are (tomes of) written rules and policies. If you believe HMRC aren't following them, then act accordingly. Especially if you're back's against the wall and you're about to lose everything.

I read the first few posts on your thread but didn't get all the detail. But whatever the error, start with your university's welfare advice centre. They can use the advisers' hotline number and that in itself will cut through some crap. If the taped conversation is pivotal, get an adviser to request it be pulled.

Battleax · 01/02/2018 17:03

(They are MUCH less keen on giving professional advisers the stonewalling treatment.)

Battleax · 01/02/2018 17:03

YOUR back^

hatethehmrc · 01/02/2018 17:05

Hate there are (tomes of) written rules and policies. If you believe HMRC aren't following them, then act accordingly. Especially* if you're back's against the wall and you're about to lose everything.

I read the first few posts on your thread but didn't get all the detail. But whatever the error, start with your university's welfare advice centre. They can use the advisers' hotline number and that in itself will cut through some crap. If the taped conversation is pivotal, get an adviser to request it be pulled.*

Thanks, I will. Didn't mean to derail.

Curlybrunette · 01/02/2018 17:05

FooFighters99 us too, we were always completely honest on our renewals and then suddenly BAM one day we get a letter saying we owe them £8000. I went to CAB etc. but when it came down to it we had been overpaid and there was nothing we could do (we just didn't know we'd been overpaid, we just happily accepted what they gave us without really thinking about it).

The guy on the phone from CTC was really helpful, he said we could pay it back over as long as it took, that they'd never take an amount which left our family struggling etc. I wanted to pay back £2 a month for the rest of eternity but dh said that was just childish (it was!!!) so we paid what we could and after 3 years have just finished paying it.

I hope you get sorted OP, I would say it is inevitable that you'll have to pay it back so maybe the sooner you speak to them the sooner you can get a plan together and stop worrying.

x

bumpertobumper · 01/02/2018 17:07

Look at the other thread that is currently active about hmrc making someone at risk of homelessness because they don't have a record of the phone call when she notified them off change of job.

Suggest you tell them of any changes in writing!

DenPerry · 01/02/2018 17:10

This happened to me, low wage then jumped up to 27k.. didn't tell them until renewal as we really need it at the time! Ended up with £2000 overpayment. I am still entitled to a small amount so they keep that, and I also pay £25 a month back myself. It's going down slowly! I think they accept any monthly amount paid back.

BewareOfDragons · 01/02/2018 17:11

I would call them and tell them ASAP.

If you will struggle without the extra £400 a month you're not entitled to, then you will certainly not be able to live without it AND pay back a massive amount if you keep running up the sum you'll have to pay back.

Call them and sort it out now before it completely gets out of hand.

Battleax · 01/02/2018 17:12

Thanks, I will. Didn't mean to derail.

Good. Do it tomorrow. It'll get busy there with short term loans at the end of term.

Bluntness100 · 01/02/2018 17:15

I don't understand how if you can't live without thr tax credits now and are already on the new salary bracket, how you will live without the tax credits come the summer and pay back what you owe?

Aren't you just making your life very hard indeed come the summer?

ADishBestEatenCold · 01/02/2018 17:21

"Think we'll owe £4.5k max by the time a renewal is due."

I don't understand why you would continue collecting the money that you are not now entitled to.

Why wait until the renewal?

If you inform them now, you will presumably have been overpaid by £400 for 4 or 5 months, so £1600 to £2000.

Perhaps you are thinking that you need the extra money now, but could withstand the larger debt in 5 or 6 months, when things are more settled?

However, in the absence of a crystal ball, you have no idea when a tax credit rule might change, or indeed when your own circumstances might change.

For example, the tax credit authority may decide to start charging interest. Your partner could unexpectedly loose the new job. You would still be liable to repay the money that you are (now knowingly) claiming without entitlement. Would it not be better to declare it now?

steamboatwilly123 · 01/02/2018 17:38

We owe just over 2k due to a miscalculation of our childcare payments (by them). They have stopped put money completely until April. We have had to take out a loan just to pay for food. We had no option to pay back in instalments. Tell them asap.

steamboatwilly123 · 01/02/2018 17:39

*our money

dkb15164 · 01/02/2018 17:45

Asked my partner who works for DWP. If you don't report it and you're being overpaid, there is a small possibility they may take it to court. Most likely you'll just have to pay it back via a repayment programme with a fine included.

Flomy · 01/02/2018 17:47

Get it out the way and ring them. They can see all monthly income from employees anyway.

I have an online account with them, all my monthly payslip amounts are on there, they go back years.

MyDcAreMarvel · 01/02/2018 18:56

dkb15164 Your partner is wrong , presumably as he works for the dwp and not hmrc.