Letter from Concentrix on behalf of HMRC regarding working tax credit (Self employed)

[PeppermintLatte]

Hi,

I'm not sure if I should be concerned and would really appreciate any advice?

I'm a single parent and I live with my Mother. I work 16 hours a week whilst my DD is in school. The rest of the school week I do voluntary work in the field I am hoping to eventually be able to get myself into (And then I won't need these bloody tax credits)

I received a letter last week saying they are acting on behalf of HMRC and they are doing random checks and I have been selected (not sure if this is true?) They want to know if i'm still self employed and if i'm still working 16 hours, which of course I am or I would have contacted them.

They have requested my UTR number, copies of any adverts placed, a letter outlining what I do for a living, a breakdown of my hours, a diary with any appointments in and also bank statements from April 2014 to November 2014.

I work 2 jobs, the first one is from home on the computer, I work 8 hours a week in this job and I am paid through my bank fortnighly. I'm not paid by the hour, I am paid for the work I complete in those 8 hours. It averages out to be about 140 every two weeks that goes into my bank account.

My second job is as a reflexologist, I also work 8 hours during school hours doing this. I have a small group of loyal clients, I am obviously not paid through the bank, not do I put my earnings through the bank as it's not worth it, it's not much money and I need it for petrol/food/clothes for DD etc. I do however, have my diary with all my appoitments in. I don't advertise so have no copies of adverts ( I advertised a few times last year, cost me a lot of money and I got no response - didn't keep copies of these adverts)

Do you think i'm going to be ok or wil they stop my tax credits? I'm so scared. I won't be able to live without this money. I was going to mention my voluntary work in the letter incase they wonder why i'm not working more than 16 hours, do you think this is wise?

Anyone else had one of these letters? Really worried as to why they would randomly selected me.

ive received a letter but I am not even claiming anymore! asking me to send in my autobiography, basically, and Im not even self-employed!

so, just rang them, asked for case number, asked how they could help.

'you've sent me a letter re: tax credits, which I no longer claim as my son was 18 last year'

'sorry but the systems are down so i cant update your details' (why dya ask then?)

'you will probably have to send in proof of his age' (with the non-envelope you've kindly not attached)

'NO, i dont need to do that as HMRC have his details and run child benefit system, which I am also no longer claiming'

needless to say i have got to ring back later to check if system is up....give me strength...
so bloody annoyed!

I received letter from Concentrix yesterday saying there had reason to believe another adult is living with me. This person is my sister who is happily married and has never lived with me, as I am also a women this letter implies that we are living together as a couple which therefore makes me a lesbian with my own sister. I rang them up and they asked me did I know who this person was ye my sister I replied he then said that I had been red flagged due to some credit agreement my sister had took out at my address which was about 12 years ago and hasn't been active for about 10 years but sometimes I still receive odd letter in her name. So realy it looks like random checks are being carried out and not investigated first they still want me send bills and bank statements in so wait and see what reply I get back .

Sorry, Jenger, but I did laugh at your lesbian relationship with your sister :)
Im wondering how long this huge fraud investigation will last - big brother is watching you! There must be a small army of people doing constant overtime dealing with all this. I'm surprised they havent asked me if I am in a relationship with my son?!

The po box number in the top right hand corner yes?

Hi to mumsnet people, I am a dad who has had to reply to the HMRC about the Tax Credits letter January 2015, and in the course of researching it, have come across something from a website 'taxcc'.
First, the taxcc.org website, it's full name is 'tax credit casualties', and the lady there recounts people writing in about previous 'cycles' of HMRC ploys. 2012 is when this particular write-up was, they seem to specifically target self-employed workers.

The GOOD NEWS is that these 'ploys' seem terribly prone to folding once an appeal is clearly intended - not actually carried out mark you, just clearly intended, and the person being 'checked' plainly knows one is possible and is not shy of doing it. 'Paula' at taxcc is pretty clued up on those episodes.

Ok, my contribution is that while I do not know the result yet, I have figured that the most suitable similar role to a self-employed person with little or no money coming in (while their partner has some 'normal' PAYE let's say), is that of a student. Importantly '...no special rules apply...' is the key point.

In short, I said the HMRC is perfectly entitled to look at hours worked, time sheets if there are some, and the OUTPUT produced or effort put in, but what the HMRC CANNOT do, is judge you to your detriment just because in financial terms you are unsuccessful. I say, that would be tantamount to the student in my analogy, having to get a 2nd class honours and at least prove they consistently averaged 75% in coursework, or they get told to pay back all the tax credits, and a penalty.

So, hours and effort, output produced are fair game for scrutiny. But, not being able to make much money/produce a pile of receipts and invoices, that's nonsense. Being not commercially successful is WHY you claim tax credits in the first place - to be rendered ineligible on that basis is a circular argument and baloney. IMHO.

In my case, it's journalistic output ie videos online and writing work, at the moment anyway. Plus, research into whatever it is. I also compiled time records from project work I had records of, and gave a sample timesheet without pledging this be the norm in future.

Don't be frightened - the tories are ideologically opposed on principle to Tax Credits, they will try and bite chunks out of it however they can.

Best to all
ian/sleekitwan, father of 2, spouse of one !

Hi all, has anyone heard back from concentrix? If so how long did it take & did they say in the letter everything's ok or do they make you worry even more? I'm self employed & work 32 hours per week, I cannot give them proof of this. I do different days each week as I have employees. The only way of them knowing is to watch me go too & from work which I'd be quite happy for them to do. The letter makes me feel like a criminal ??

I also had a letter today claiming I am not single and am living with a man they have named in my letter. I have been asked to provide proof that we are seperated such as a solicitors letter! The man named is in fact my landlord, we have never met and he lives in Australia. Ive got to send 10 months bank statements 10 months bills tenancy agreememt & proof im no longer with a man ive never met!

I also received a letter a couple of days ago claiming I am living with a partner. I live with my mum and brother for 1.5 years as I am trying to save up for a house. I work 40 hours a week and I am doing a degree. I believe this people should be after people that are claiming benefit and not working, but instead they decide to annoy hard working single mums. I had to send all the proof they asked, bank statements, bills, proof of my mum and brother address and boyfriend address. This is insane!! I cant wait to finish my degree and hopefully get a well paid job as I hate this people running after me as if I am a criminal when I never stop working and never claimed any other benefit, only the ones that my son is entitled to.

hi I had one of these letters today saying I may have another adult living with me and I am claiming being single,i phoned them asap to ask them if they could elaborate the only thing they said was another bank account may have flagged up and to send in all documents as in bills bank statements ect ,ive contacted brittish gas ,bank etc as I don't have paper bills to send me statements etc and they have all said I will get them up to 28 working days this concentrix have said they need them by 15th feb what do I do any1 help me?

Hi
I read these comments and there are some off the mark. I have worked 30 years in the private sector and 7 years online. The latter I do not meet the minimum wage. I had a HMRC tax credit check 2 years ago and passed and now we are are going through a concentrix check which is lighter than the one 2 years ago.

There is no law passed at the moment where you have to earn the minimum wage. Its universal credit talk and its stalling because its going to hit the farmers hard. what you have to remember is working tax is a top up to give you a decent wage. Its not something we do not fancy giving you anymore. like sleekitwan said its no ones fault if they do not achieve the minimum wage.

We are in a Tory government. The rich do not want to give to the hard workers at the bottom. Just remember this. An MP is self employed. He is paid by the tax payer. A minister is paid nearly £70,000 a year. To the best of my knowledge universal credit has had 4 people in charge over 5 years. unfortunately the first person died and the next 2 both went on the sick. The latest person has been there 4 months. The minister at the top for 5 years has had nearly £350,000 of tax payers money.

work out how hard you work against the business achievement of universal credit which had a budget of 2 billion and is now up to 12 billion plus and is way behind target. does he have to pay that £350,000 back to the tax payer?. Are the rich complaining about loss of tax money in this area.

Good luck to everyone

Hi all

I to have had a similar letter - when i called them they said it was nothing to do with my ex (we still have a joint bank account as he helps with son bills ) and its not my recently deceaded father - no and its another name which has appeared on my credit report for my address - its me (number 2) as i still have a card in my (was) married name as well as my maiden name - do they not realise that mrs A ..... and miss A .... have the smae date of birth as well as the same national insurance number ? numptys - as tax credits knew about my cahnge of name -concentix say they can go back 10 years but ive been only claiming WTC for 5 years as before that my ex had a decent job when i was married so we didnt claim.
i have spoken to them several times tried to claificy but I work 2x part time jobs minimum wage as well as 2x self -employment as 2 kids at home but im way too busy to send them stuff - i had to BUY my own stamp and drag the kids to the PO getn an envelope and send them something - im not sure what they want as they firstly wanted bills but that doesnt prove anything - so i wrote them a letter and asked them to kindly check with the births marriages and deaths and then called them only to speak to a chinese lady who spoke broken Englsih . Im upset as i also pay tax ( because i have 2 jobs they havent sorted that out but i shouldt be paying it) and we shouldnt have to prove stuff they already know (if they checked their computers they will see !)
they are picking on vunerable groups sinlge mums and wasing tax payers money on a stupid and ill run system.

I have also had a letter from Concentrix claiming they have evidence that I am living with a partner. My husband died in 2001 and I havent even kissed another man since, so I find this particularly distressing. Their 'evidence' is that there are multiple names connected to my address - although they accept they may be previous tenants, the landlord etc - but they wont give me the names so that I can defend myself. The evidence they are requesting wouldnt even prove that I dont have a partner living here (how do you prove a negative?), it would just prove that everything is in my name i.e. rental agreement, utility bills, phone bills, benefits letters, statements for all bank accounts etc etc all back to April 2014.

I looked into Concentrix who appear to have started out as a telemarketing call centre, have had some big investment in their Ireland branch and there is talk of some new software they have. This all makes me wonder if they have just shoved a load of telemarketing lists into a computer, entered my address and looked at the names that have come up.

HMRC recently lost an Upper Tribunal Appeal (CTC/1824/2014) where SB lost her tax credits as HMRC claimed she was still living with her husband. The judge decided that the onus was not on SB to "show that the award had been properly made" and that "the onus of proof rests squarely on HMRC.... and that it was for HMRC to make good the evidential basis for the 'reasonable grounds for believing' statutory test". The statutory test he is talking about is Section 16(1)(b) of the Tax Credits Act 2002 which states "where at any time during the period for which an award of tax credit is made to a person... [HMRC] have reasonable grounds for believing that [the person] has... ceased to be, or never been entitled to tax credits for the period, [HMRC] may decide to amend or terminate the award".

Now I'm not a solicitor, but that sounds awfully like HMRC can only cease or change tax credits award if they have "reasonable grounds" for believing that someone is no longer, or never was, eligible and that HMRC has to prove that they have reasonable grounds rather than we have to prove that we have done nothing wrong.

Personally, I am not going to send anything to Concentrix - a third party service that seems to have started out as a call centre and who I dont trust with my confidential information - I am going to contact my local HRMC office and insist that they provide me with the evidence that Concentrix has refused to provide, so that I can sort this out. It would be great if everyone else who has been a victim of Concentrix would do the same thing, especially at this crucial time for HMRC (end of Jan deadline for self-employed returns), to protest against these scare tactics. I may well end up having to provide all the info anyway, but it will go to HMRC and I will make things as difficult for them as possible, quoting S16(1)(b) and the tribunal decision all the way!

Like everyone else, I depend on my tax credits to support myself and my children, including my Autistic son, but I am sick to death of living in fear and being made to feel that because I am dependent on 'handouts' that I deserve to be treated like a con-artist.

Hi, I started this thread, sorry to see that so many people are being targeted by Concentrix.

I sent everything I could off to them 10 days ago, they haven't sent any of my stuff back to me as of yet. So annoying as I need my account book back asap.

I take it they are targeting single people as well as self employed people? I'm just waiting for another letter now then because as well as being self employed, i'm single!

Everyone who has had a decision back from Concentrix/HMRC how long did it take?

Also, Universal Credit looks like it's going to be my worst nightmare, do you think this will ever actually get the go ahead? If Labour get in, in May, can we assume it'll probably be scrapped and tax credits will simply stay as they are?

Oh goodness
I cant sleep concentrate and feel very ill due to this letter, I tried calling them today but didn't give the correct security and have to call back. I have not worked since 24 December.
I am in a terrible pickle and feel so ill. I guess as I stay at my boyfriends house some days of the week they are assuming I live with him as I have had to use his address as I had no where else to stay. My dad was so poorley and passed away last June I have been staying with my mum and sister but they have sent me a letter saying I live with my fella. Im in a terrible state of mind and feel horrid- its all making me ill. Anyone else in the same situation?

Unless you contribute to the household or the said guy contributes to your household (they'll see this on bank statements) there's nothing they can do. If you're named on the house then you have to prove you/he left. I called them yesterday with an update of my income, as we (self employed) have to predict our income for the upcoming year & it's a lot more than I gave so looks like I'll have to pay back. Still worried how I can prove my hours. They said it will take 3-4 weeks before I hear anything.

God
Help me - I am going to try to call them later today as its impossible to try to get through in a morning.
I am praying I am going to be ok - however my stomach and my head is telling me to run away as this is all to much for me !
I cant sleep and cant think !

Try not to worry. Remember it's just routine if you don't have any bills etc going to your bf house then u have nothing to worry about. If you do have bills etc going to your mums house then there's proof that you live there. As for work, be honest with them you'll only have to pay back but if you lie you'll get into more trouble (they'll know when you gave up work) I'm still stressed & couldn't sleep for days, we hear a lot of horror stories. But l know I've done nothing wrong so I'm trying to relax but I won't fully until I hear back.

I wont lie - I am a useless liar ! I just want to get through on the phone and answer the questions and be done with.
I hate all of this - its making me feel so really poorly.
I want to crawl up into a ball and sleep forever .
Thank you for being kind - I will post when I get through to them and keep you updated.
Thank you very much

Finally got through - and .....................didn't answer the security questions correctly AGAIN ! (old mobile number I think) and they wont talk to me I have to call back ??? this is twice to them and then I called WTC and they cant help me ? The most I can do now is wait for a letter? OR try again and hope that I get it right ? In the meantime I may be in a mental institution as I am loosing the will to live ! I have asked they put notes to say I have called and waited 45 mins each time - I am really really making myself ill. I have not eaten properly for 2 days now !

I have had one of the concentrix letters on behalf of hmrc.
claiming they have evidence that my ex-partner is living me and if I do not call or send in bank statements, gas, etc. they will stop my tax credits.

so I called them I did think it was going to simple doing that until they asked me for my bank statements for the last five years since my ex left gas and phone bills for a start off I live with my mother and she is the sole tenant so no gas or phone bills in my name. went paperless few years ago.
contacted the bank about sending me copies of my statements there will be a charge for doing so can not afford it.

so I have sent them a letter today asking them to send me this so called evidence that they have so I can defend myself in court

I also received a letter a couple of weeks ago. The first later wanted me to confirm my hours worked and to send in my payslips and contract. I'm not employed and have have only been self employed for the last 6 plus years.
I rang them and they said that letter had been sent in error and they would send another detailing what evidence they wanted for my self employed hours. I have a gift website business.
The list was extensive but it did not include bank statements. Rather they wanted full accounts for April to Dec 2014. A weekly journal detailing hours worked. Full receipts and invoices for the same period. Vehicle registration for a vehicles of the business and insurance documents.
Well I don't have a vehicle with my business so couldn't send them.
I have never been required to keep a journal before so can't produce one retrospectively, and asking for one is unreasonable.
I will not send in customer invoices/paperwork giving customer info, that would mean I break the Data Protection Act. But have sent in everything else available. 280 pages all told, plus a 2 page letter and the cover sheet. None of which can prove I work the 30 hours a week.
I have spent a fortune on paper and ink having had to copy each paper invoice in case the don't send it all back. Plus the £11 to send it all by special delivery! All this took hours on several days to sort though and copying etc! I'm in half a mind to invoice them for the cost and lost hours!

When I spoke to them the first time the bloke in not so many words admitted that this is simply an exercise to push people (who would otherwise be legitimately claiming TCs) off TCs!

I haven't heard back yet.

Shocking stuff! They are just chancing it, trying to find people who are frauds. I would say don't worry, but they make you pay for their mistakes.... They should be giving you some evidence of cohabitation before making you prove yourself innocent, surely?

I've been self employed for 7 years, I had to send in bank statements from April-Nov for all bank accounts. They seem to be asking for different things for everyone. If you do not cooperate they will fight, I have a friend that did just that, they then spied on her for weeks & then took her in for an interview. Government officials are capable of anything if they think you're fraudelently claiming.

Hi Peeps.
I finally got through yesterday to a person who wasn't from this country! Very broken English who I had to spell nearly everything out to (however a nice lady) I tried as best as I could to explain my situation - which I am sure she didn't understand ?? I have got to write a letter and send proof of address and other things which im not sure of as she didn't explain enough to me - so when I write I will ask again as she didn't make these things clear but I was so glad I got through and passed the security answers this time ! My belly isn't aching as much as it was but I am still uneasy with what they said in the letter to me which finally arrived. I think they are causing unnecessary worry to people - it has made me feel so poorly like I am some kind of criminal - rather like I have held a bank up at gunpoint and I am on the run is how I have felt ! I will keep you posted as I think its important we all see what exactly is going on . Thank you all for your support and selfishly I am glad I am not alone in this as it has eased my pain somewhat.