Has anyone else had a nightmare with these and if so did you sort it out?  I was getting tax credits with no problem until my partner moved in and I confessed to the IR.  Since then it's been a disaster and now they want me to repay all the money that they say they shouldn't have paid me in the first place.  They keep changing the amount as well which is now up to 2 grand.  When I've looked at my P60's they appear to want me to pay back more than they've actually paid me.  It's soooo confusing and their helpline is no help.

Anyone been able to sort this out?  I think I need to see a tax accountant (expensive!) as all the advice shops have been of no use whatsoever.  Do the Inland Revenue make it impossible to understand on purpose??

CG

I havnt had a problem with them so far but since they have now started paying into your bank instead of your wages i havnt had any money since the 11th of Feb and wont get any until the 20th March, its really made a dent on my finances:rolleyes:

Mine was always paid via my wages and the IR said I should have known they were over paying me but won't tell me how or why I should have known.  My employer says it takes the IR ages to  notify them that tax credits have been stopped or reduced which results in over payments.  Can't see how any of this is my fault but apparently it is   I've been to see my MP but he says I'm just one of many.

CG

Thats awful you must be so frustrated, at the end of the day it is the Inland Revenues fault and you shouldnt have to be paying for it! I really hope i dont have to end up paying anything back, so far ive had no problems and ive been receiving tax credits since 2001. I hope you get it sorted. I dont understand why they think you have been overpaid if its them that gave it you in the first  place!

our tax credits stopped for no reason or so we thought ?
went to phone them and they said they had overpaid us by 2,300 and when i asked why they admitted it was there oversight and that the information that we had given them had not been processed correctly, so we did our job and gave them everything they asked for and more and they made the cock up, so now we don't get any money for our one daughter who we are eligable to claim for, we can't get income support for us either as that would entitle us to money for our daughter as husband is disabled long term (many of you know about his serious accident) so we just get incapcity benefit for 4 of us.
what annoys me if i had given them the wrong info in the first place they would of said plenty about it and i could of been done for fraud, but because they made the mistake we have to live with it.
carol

I've been honest with them all along, when OH had a pay rise I informed them each time.  Now they say the information I gave them was incorrect but I don't believe it was.  The P60's are the proof surely.  I'm taking it as far as I can by disputing it but I guess in the end I will just have to pay it back or they will take it back at source via my wages.  I wish I had never claimed this in the first place.

CG

Last year we were getting working tax & child tax credit, I was working part time and Oh self employed. Then I left my job (school merger) and shortly after OH changed jobs and became employed. Now we get less coming in per week, wage wise, but are no longer entitled to either tax credit? And they told us we had to pay it all back! When I queried the paying back bit, they said I don't actually pay it back, they just stop giving us it? well I was confused so didn't even bother asking why it was stopped but my sister who is working full time and her OH who is self employed get more than us per week and still get credit?? go figure cos I can't
Oh I do remember when OH was s/e his accountant told us that they don't actually give you the money but rather its a loan, in other words you end up paying it back anyway? anyway I'm still

Dee

The best place to go is to the Citizens advice Bureau and speak to a Benefit specialist. If they don't cover Tax credits they can at least point you in the right direction. From what I've heard there have been a LOT of problems in the last year or two, since things changed. All the best, Dawn X

I am having a similar problem. I recieved a letter in Nov saying that I had been overpaid in 2003-04 by £900, I phoned them up and they had no idea why i was sent the letter and told me it was a computer error. Just before Christmas I received a letter from Inland Rev with a notice to pay. I phoned them and was told to phone tax credits and dispute, which i did and it was put on hold for 1 month. Last week I received a letter from tax credits saying I did owe the money as I was overpaid, when I phoned them they said I didnt fill in the relivent forms declaring how much I earned so I had to pay it all back. i told them this isnt true as I always fill in the forms (which i do) so it has been put on hold for another month whilst i dispute it.

I dont think they know what they are doing

Although I haven't had time to read all these threads in detail, so apologise if I am reapeating someone else, I would urge you to contact your MP.  I had endless problems with Tax Credits and tried very hard to sort it out but ended up repaying lots of money.  A chance meeting with someone led me to believe it wasn't quite right and urged me to contact my MP for help in sorting.  I visited my local tax office in person where a helpful assistant spent ages going through all my correspondence with a fine tooth comb.  We planned a letter to the Tax Credit section and I copied this to my MP who took up the case on my behalf and I then received a substantial refund within a week!

Stick to you guns and don't let the ******* get you down!

There was something like this that was on a programme on TV where one poor mum
got so much in debt trying to pay off her supposed tax credit overpayment she was having
to sell her home to pay for it.
Some professionals got involved turns out after that worked it all out (and even they found it highly confusing
and they are tax specialists) the IR owed HER.

I can't remember who she sought help form etc, but definately worth a visit to the CAB.

No don't do CAB.  Although they will be helpful they don't have access to your records whereas your local tax office will.  It is worth going there first to talk face to face complete with your paperwork and their records.

They will be able to approach the tax credit people on your behalf by phone while you wait.

I am paying back almost £2000 that they claim was overpaid. :(
My friend was awarded both child and working tax credit and she thought they had got it wrong.She contacted them 4 times to make sure she was definately entitled to the amount and each time she was told it was correct.
She has now been told that they had made a mistake and she shouldn't have been getting this amount.
She now has to repay it all so currently gets nothing.
She is struggling financially and is even thinking about quitting her job as she would be better off on benefits.

Another friend is also up the wall at the moment as she is being told to repay money she never even claimed because she never re-claimed when her last claim ran out. The mind boggles

The whole thing has gone to pot since they stopped asking for just the last 3 months wage slips.

waffy that's just the situation I was in and had paid back £1200 before I sorted it out by going to the local tax office and talking it through complete with my paperwork.  From then on in, I copied all information to my MP who was a great help.

I would urge you to visit the tax office and speak to someone as it could be you don't owe this money after all.  As you know the helpline is less than helpful but face to face is just great!

You never know, you could be owed a windfall!