My anxiety went through the roof after HMRC demanded £1,100 – they were wrong
WHEN Stephen Fellows opened a letter from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) demanding he pay back £1,100, he assumed it was a scam.
The note stated that he had received too much money when he claimed the child tax credit and that he had to pay it back within 30 days or it would be passed on to collection agencies.
This is despite the fact that it has been almost 20 years since the benefit was claimed, which has now been replaced by Universal Credit.
The 66-year-old retiree stopped claiming child tax credits more than fifteen years ago when the eldest of his four children completed full-time education.
Stephen, from Chester, immediately contacted the tax authorities to check if the letter was genuine – and was stunned when they confirmed it was.
He was sure that he had never paid too much and that he could not unexpectedly raise so much money.
“We have always acted honestly in our dealings with HMRC,” he said.
“I suffer from Parkinson’s disease and this ordeal has sent my anxiety through the roof.”
Stephen contacted The Sun asking for help on how to proceed as he was terrified of debt collectors turning up at his door, despite having no idea how he owed the money.
Government departments, including HMRC, have the right to ask customers for a refund if they have paid too much.
The general time limit for collecting a debt in England and Wales is six years under the Limitation Act, but unfortunately according to HMRC this rule does not apply to tax credits.
However, they need to ensure this is done fairly, and a 30 day notice period to come up with a lump sum hardly seems reasonable.
These departments also sometimes make mistakes, so it is always worth asking if any claims for money owed can be double-checked.
After The Sun spoke to HMRC, it emerged that the taxman had indeed made a mistake in Stephen’s case.
Investigations into his claim revealed that he owed nothing at all and that he should never have received the letter asking for the money to be refunded.
HMRC has now canceled Stephen’s debt and offered him £100 compensation for the stress caused by the mistake.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We have apologized to Mr Fellows and confirmed that he does not need to take any further action as the debt has been written off.
“We also sent him reparations.”
Stephen is relieved that he doesn’t owe any money, but his case is alarming.
If he hadn’t asked The Sun to intervene, he probably would have just paid the money back.
Who knows if the taxman would ever have realized his mistake?
And how many other people have wrongly paid back money they never owed?
Earlier this year, The Sun helped a pensioner battle the DWP after he was asked to pay back £22,000 for a mistake he apparently made on his pension application six years ago.
After we intervened, an investigation revealed that the error was due to a staff error at the DWP and his debt had been written off.
If you are asked to pay back money you don’t think you owe, write to us
The Sun is now calling on anyone who has received an unexpected overpayment claim from HMRC or the DWP and would like to have it investigated to contact us.
Write to our Consumer Champion: Laura Purkess The Sun, 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF or email her at squeezeteam@thesun.co.uk.
Tell us why you think you don’t owe the money and include your full name and case reference number. It can also help to share your social security number.
How to contact our Squeeze team
Our Squeeze team is winning money back for readers who have had a refund or billing issue with a company and are struggling to resolve it.
We’ve recovered thousands of pounds for readers, including £22,000 for a man asked to pay back benefits to the DWP, £2,800 for a family who had a hellish holiday and £635 for an eBay seller who was scammed.
For help, write to our Consumer Champion, Laura Purkess:
I would love to receive your letters and emails, so write to me at squeezeteam@thesun.co.uk or Laura Purkess, The Sun, 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF.
Tell me what happened and don’t forget to leave your phone number so I can call you if I need more information. Share any reference number the company has given you in relation to your case, or an account name/number if you are a customer.
Please add the following line so I can go to the office on your behalf: “I consent to [company’s name] to discuss my case with Laura Purkess at The Sun”.
Please also include your full name and place of residence in your email/letter.
How to Dispute an Overpayment of a Tax Credit
If you wish to dispute a claim for overpayment of tax relief yourself, you will need to contact HMRC directly.
The most direct way is to complete a dispute form online – go to: gov.uk/government/publications/tax-credits-overpayment-tc846.
If you are unable to use the online form, you can print a form and send it to HMRC using the link above.
Explain in your form why you are disputing the overpayment and state your citizen service number (NI) and your partner’s NI number if you are jointly and severally liable.
If you need to repay the money but need more time to pay, call the tax credit payment helpline on 0345 302 1429.
During the conversation you must mention your tax credit reference number.
To notify HMRC online you will need a Government Gateway account.
To register for an account you will need your NI number and two of the following details:
- a valid British passport
- a British driving license with photo card
- a pay slip from the past three months, or a P60 from your employer
- details of a tax credit claim
- data from a self-declaration tax return
- your credit information
To get started, visit: gov.uk/log-in-register-hmrc-online-services.