Tax credit check letter

[Jellybeans24]

Hi I recently got a letter about my tax credits saying they are checking my claim and they want information from April 2019 to July 2019 Basically they have asked if me kids dad is living at my property and they named him on the letter he doesn’t live with me but sometimes sleeps over we had our 2nd child together last year we just don’t get on when we live together hence why we live apart

I pay all my bills etc so everything is in my name but he does get letters sent to my address as his mam opens his letters when they go to hers even thought she shouldn’t. But I’ve got all my proof that he doesn’t live he but I’m only worried because they have asked for bank statements but we always transfer each other money he does give me money for the kids but he isn’t the best with money so he gives me money to keep for him then I put it in my savers and transfer it back to him when he needs it.

Do I tell hmrc all this and will they understand or will they stop my tax credits?

@VickyManc shut up! You don't know her situation. Op has got people on here calling her for claiming. Hmrc has confirmed she is legitimately claiming, now leave her alone!

@onceinawhilex

You sound as mature as your friend.

Tax payers have every right to call benefit scammers out.

Not a benefit scammer though 🤣

God ask a simple question and get absolutely pulled to bits even though hmrc have said it’s fine.

I’m not trying to justify anything the only help I get is tax credits and I also pay full council tax because my wage allows me to I don’t get the single person discount for that.
Another alarm bell.

@VickyManc she is a tax payer herself though 🙄

Not in net terms.

Still a tax payer and she stated when her children are old enough she will
Return to full time work

I was working full time paying tax and getting no benefits till I got half way through my pregnancy. My mam is retiring next year and when she does I’ll be going back to full time which will save me wasting ‘more of the tax payers money’ according to most of you on child care.

When I’m back to full time I won’t be entitled to anything just like before.

*I was working full time paying tax and getting no benefits till I got half way through my pregnancy.

Wow. Has someone told the Queen? She’ll no doubt give you an honour for that.

I'm genuinely shocked at the tone of some of the keyboard warriors on here.

Yes, me too. Even by mumsnet benefit-bashing standards lots of posts on here are jaw-droppingly awful. OP didn't even post this on AIBU! She posted on Money Matters which is where people come for straightforward advice, not an unnecessary, unhelpful and unwarranted flaming.

Jellybeans if I were you I would take what's useful from this thread and then hide it. There's some good, in-depth info on what counts as a couple for tax credit purposes on this page, as well as info about how HMRC should conduct themselves, where the burden of proof lies at different stages of your claim, what the possible penalties are, relevant case law etc.:

revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-do-tax-credits-work/understanding-living-together/

A couple of years ago HMRC hired a private company called Concentrix to do compliance checks and they were extremely overzealous. As a result, if you advance search 'Concentrix' on Mumsnet you will find lots of threads full of crowdsourced wisdom on how to deal with these checks.

Also you should absolutely claim the Council Tax Single Occupancy Discount.

NeedAnExpert from your posts I get the impression you are a 'net contributor'?

Proof if ever it was needed that money can't buy happiness.

Thank you so much @PencilsInSpace

Okay. So you don’t get on with the father of your DCs, and he leaves and goes and lives with his mum. So we are told. But then you have another dc with him despite ‘not getting on’? The system is a joke. I just hope this government comes down hard on these loopholes, because that’s what they are - loopholes used by unscrupulous people to scam money that could be used for people who are in genuine hardship. And it appears you don’t have to be too bright to con the system either.

Fuck is wrong with people?

Livelovebehappy - Ridiculous isn't it !

@Jellybeans2224 you only work 24 hours a week. How can you be pay tax? Unless you're on NMW?

@kevintheorangecarrot

Because my job pays well so I come out with pretty much a full time wage and make more than 11500 which is my tax code

That’s yearly not monthly before people cry even more 🤣

So work a few more hours in your well paying job and stop claiming as a single person. Your attitude is dreadful.

At the moment I can’t because of childcare reasons my mum watches the baby on the shifts I work but she works herself so can’t have him full time till she retires next year.

If I had to get childcare myself it would cost a fortune and I’d probably be entitled for childcare paid for and then you lot would moan even more🤣

My attitude is not dreadful I’m doing what I can for time being while I can’t do anything else.

You're playing the system and I think you know you are. Like other people, I hope that these 'loopholes' get closed.

There is nothing wrong with what you are doing. You are working and plan on going back FT. All good.

The fact that you get along better as a couple not living alone, nothing wrong with that either. You're not the only one and what works best for you is your concern.

The issue is that you ARE a couple, and as such, you are not a single mum. As a couple, you can expect him to support his family, whether he is living with you or not. He should be giving some money towards to his mum for his living, and he should be giving you and the children what you are instead claiming benefits for.

This is why it is fraud. You are getting from the government money that your OH is instead keeping for himself. That's what gets people respond the way they do.

Whether the DWP have a different view when they look at your bank statement, who knows. They will definitely know that you are claiming fraudulently, but whether they'll be interested in pursuing it further will depend on the evidence they will gather.

@Dontdisturbmenow but the thing is, even if her partner pays for this children etc, maintenance , she is still entitled to claim tax credits as they don't take child maintenance into consideration so she is not claiming fraudulently

I'm not taking about child maintenance. They ARE a couple, together, they support each other, not just him supporting his children.

I am a benefits adviser and as such we have to be completely non judgemental. This would be one of the situations where I'd advise you that yes it's all fine and allowed then when you left my office would mutter ' bloody pisstakers' under my breath. I'd rank it alongside the clients who bring in their elderly mother whose just arrived from India and whose never lived here and ask when she can start claiming her state pension and attendance allowance.