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AIBU?

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Original poster

..to want to report some people for claiming falsely too much child tax and working tax credits?

128 replies

collision · 30/04/2007 10:34

they drive me mad and i hate the fact that they have actually told me they are scamming the CTC and WTC people.

He earns a fortune in computers and she is a SAHM and pregnant with her 4th.

They are not married and have claimed that she is working a few hours a week with fulltime childcare paid for as his PA. They have given a different address for him so it looks like she is a tenant in his house.

So CTC and WTC think she is struggling to get by on a few hours a week, forking out on nurseries and she will get the full whack of money....over £900 per month.

She drives a 4x4 EVIL Lexus and is always showing off bout the holidays they have and their 6 bedroom house blah blah blah and I think I am going to grass them up.

What do you think?

OP posts:
IcingOnTheCake · 30/04/2007 11:26

Tell my DP who they are and he'll do it for you. He gets really mad when people cheat the system!

chocolattegirl · 30/04/2007 11:31

I'd report them like a shot - if they're all above board then they have nothing to fear. If not you could be saving the taxpayer a lot of money. Mind I think that it is all worked out at the end of the tax year so next year might eb a shock for them.

What I don't understand is that the WTC is paid to people who've gotten work (and very well done to them) but really you need the extra dosh before you get into work (might need to buy suitable work clothes/pay initial travelling costs etc). Surely people who don't/can't work for whatever reasons need the extra £££ a month just to make ends meet as much as the ones who do work use it to pay for extras?

Fillyjonk · 30/04/2007 11:59

collision, is he the father of the kids?

if so-i can't see how it makes much difference

i reckon she's bragging

or deeply in debt

you might be more onto something to report HIM for tax evasion

Fillyjonk · 30/04/2007 12:00

chocgirl there are grants for people moving from benefits to work, specifically for stuff like new suits etc

chocolattegirl · 30/04/2007 12:15

Oh I didn't realise that Fillyjonk.

Original poster
collision · 30/04/2007 16:06

he is the father of 3 of the 4 kids but accepts them all as his own.

I will ring tax credits and tell them what I know and also that I suspect he is dodging taxes.

HA!

OP posts:
hayes · 30/04/2007 16:13

remember you can have any kind of car on debt, people tend to look at what we drive and base their assumptions on that. I bet they are up to their eyes in debt, or the money they are receiving is going on the wrong things.

One thing I will say tho is that you won't feel any better if you do report them.

joash · 30/04/2007 16:38

The comment by chocolattegirl... "I'd report them like a shot - if they're all above board then they have nothing to fear." got me thinking. People think that we are literally rolling in money becasue we have very expensive furniture, just about every gadget that you can think of, three PC's, a top of the range laptop, etc, etc. We bought all these things when we were both working and before we moved here. We had a combined income of over £72,000 a year and our own house. Now, we are renting privately, have nothing in the bank and are living on an income of just over £13,000 a year. Our rent is £625 a month. A certain person has just maliciously 'grassed' us to the housing benefit place claiming that we have money secreted away, when in reality - we have nothing and our claim is all above board. However, the consequences of this person doing this, is that our housing benefit has been suspended whilst we wait for all the relevant paperwork to come through from the bank to back us up. Unfortunately, this information is going to take up to 6 weeks from now. In the meantime, we have had to take out an overdraft for this months rent and we simply will not have the money to pay next months rent which is due before the paperwork. In short - by the end of this month, we will quite literally be homeless with a 17 year old and a four year old - all because of someone making assumptions ... out of nothing more than jealousy and unfounded 'suspicions'.

FioFio · 30/04/2007 16:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

chocolattegirl · 30/04/2007 16:45

Joash I think it was the comment that they're boasting about scamming the CTC/WTC people that made me write that. It may be a joke on their part but it's not particularly funny and as such really they ought to expect adverse reactions from other people.

It has made me think though about the impact reporting someone would have on an innocent party. I would have to be pretty sure that there was something amiss or not quite right before I did that. Human nature being what it is though.... it's not right but it does happen.

I had a run-in myself with the DWP over income support so I know what it's like to have money wrongly deducted and have to fight to get it back.

joash · 30/04/2007 16:48

HI chocolattegirl - sorry, didn't take offense or anything at it, it just got me thinking about our current situation. I was trying to say that, it's not as simple as not having anything to fear - there may be unforseen consequences.

PeachyChocolateEClair · 30/04/2007 17:00

If she's not working and they're getting childcare its a scam, and that the bit they're focussing on- you have to both work to get that part of it. I kmnow loads of couples where one claims to be PA to the self employed one to get the childcare paid for. The tenancy etc I eckon is irrlevant, its the childcare credits. I'mnot hugely in favour of dobbing in (its always the kids that get it after all) but makes me to remember that when I was on maternity and Dh lost his job, I ahd to find the boys playschool from my £100 a week (was pre the voucher scheme).

But I think you'll find thats what the scam is.

expatinscotland · 30/04/2007 20:13

They're boasting about it, though.

Original poster
collision · 30/04/2007 20:20

Dont get me wrong.

If I wasnt 100% sure there was something dodgy going on then of course I wouldnt report it.

But they are showing off about it

and

a have just had a massive extension to their house

b have a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge widescreen TV put in their new 'cinema lounge'!

c have their kids in private school

d go on holiday 4x per year

Now, I am NOT jealous at all. Truly. We have a great standard of living and want for nothing and our children are happy and healthy and we have a good marriage blah blah blah.

But why should they be able to scam CTC and WTC and dodge taxes and get away with it? It is not right.

I will think more about it and not do anything on the spur of the moment but they are cheating the system and I know about it and it isnt fair.

OP posts:
Janos · 30/04/2007 22:49

I'm inclined to say report them them cuz I'm a lone parent who can only work cos the tax credits I get just cover DS's nursery fees.

This makes me !!!!

MadeForIt · 01/05/2007 11:57

I agree with fio. Stay out of it. What goes around has a way of coming back around.

FiveFingeredFiend · 01/05/2007 11:58

I would key their car whilst your at it, poisen the dog, and leae shit on their doorstep.

expatinscotland · 01/05/2007 12:02

What goes around doesn't come around!

I wish!

If that's the case, then why are so many who have royally f*&ked over others walking around without so much as a second thought, happy as Larry.

And who's to say, using that logic, that they're not getting what comes around by someone reporting them for fraud?

rabbleraiser · 01/05/2007 12:11

It's probaby best to stay out of it imo, however irritating these people are.

The woman you describe is plainly a materialist and a loud mouth. Both those pleasing traits will trip her up without any third party intervention.

Irritating though. I agree.

wheresthevalium · 01/05/2007 12:13

Definitely not unreasonable.

Again, I am a single mum who would have to claim full benefits if it weren't for the tax credits I get which cover the childcare costs I have because I work.

It makes me so that people cheat the system like this.

beep · 01/05/2007 12:14

surely if they have said he is living at a different address they are cheating.

powder28 · 01/05/2007 12:21

I would leave well alone. What they are doing isnt nice, but they will get found out eventually.

expatinscotland · 01/05/2007 12:24

This reply has been deleted

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fireflyfairy2 · 01/05/2007 12:24

I think you should mind your own business.

They will get found out eventually and you will have had nothing to do with it.

powder28 · 01/05/2007 12:27

Also, you have to think about the effect it will have on their children. They are the ones that matter and they will inevitably suffer for their parents greed. So sad.

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