Tax Credit System

[Milims]

Is it just me or does anyone else have a real problem with this? I'm now to the stage where if I know that I have to contact them to inform them of a change in my circumstances I have a panic attack! Literally! When I was working as an electrician I was frequently on short term contracts and the rates of pay varied by up to £5 per hour. Consequently when they asked me the question - can you estimate your income for the rest of the financial year my answer was always NO (I'm talented but sadly not psychic!) Their answer was then always - (paraphrased) "well we can't calculate your payment." All I could tell them was what I earned at the time and how many hours I worked per week and it seems that if you can't tell them how much you are going to earn in a year then their sytem throws a wobbler! They have already messed up my claim by (to me anyway) lots of money in the past by not recording changes in my circumstances, when I had informed them of the changes, and I live in constant fear that they will mess up yet again and I'm left owing them lots of money, (BTW to me £10 is lots of money) I can't afford to pay back. The reason this has come up is because I called them today to tell them that my boss has just told me that I'm now officially employed for 37 1/2 hours a week instead of 30, and that my pay is now 50 pence more per hour and it seems that the tax credit people can't work it out!
I almost to the point where I want to go and find a part time job for basic pay for the rest of my life so that I never have to deal with them AGAIN!

[mrsflibble]

I hate them too, they keep asking me to estimate my income for 2005/06 'cos that's when I applied (well, in the 05/06 tax year i think it was) yet they can't seem that although i was on 12kpa I left in the sept of 05 and was then unemployed. they also don't seem to get the idea of a woman who's NOT employed. they are convinced I am lying to them.

milims, you have my sympathy.

[Stonehead]

We hate them too. The system is a mess, everyone ducks responsibility and every mistake they make is attributed to you.

We had really serious problems five years ago, but after a very long battle I got it sorted by threatening to superglue myself naked to the doors of one of their main offices. After notifying the press in advance, of course.

I got an apology and a cheque couriered to our door within 12 hours.

And I can't say I blame them. You wouldn't want me glued naked to your door, either!

[Milims]

Oh Stoney! You have so made my night! No not the visions of you supper glued naked to a front door (honest - although that was a great source of mirth) It's more the fact that you took the b****rds on and won! However, despite my daughter once asking, having seen my naked legs, if god had used bits of man when he made me, I don't think I'd be quite as effective glued to a tax office door! That said, whenever I ring them now I'll be visualising you Stoney! Panic over I think!!

[baldowrie]

I had the same when my husband and I separated. I worked out they owed me a lot of money after taking 10 weeks to sort out payments...in the meantime I had No money coming in and no maintenance so was living off hand outs to feed us...and not from the children's father!

I kept telling them exactly how much they owed and they denied, denied and denied it. A year later, I got a cheque and saying they made any error...what a surprise, NOT!

Currently they are trying extract £100 a month from me for money they say we owe from years back...years back when my ex kept a good portion of his wages from the family (and the tax man). From him, who is earning..as a lot if it wasn't in 'cash'...is asked to pay £20 a month. I am disabled and so is my son, £100 a month is our food bill for the month for 3 of us, and they want that!

So much for combating child poverty!

I didn't earn though this period so not responsible for any earnings.

don't be too worried about the situation though, my lawyer is on to it and no judge or sheriff is going ask for that amount, particularly as an offer has been made and they took 2 years to decide we owed them money

[Millymollymandy]

Who/what is this (I haven't lived in England since 1995)? Some part of the Inland Revenue?

[Milims]

3M It is kind of part of the tax system - but doesn't seem to be linked with PAYE. It's for people with families who work more than 16 hours per week and earn below a certain amount. There are two kinds - child tax credit and working tax credit. I'm not 100% sure how it works but it seems that it the child tax credit is aimed to help out with paying for things like child care and the family tax credit helps to bring those on a low wage up to a particular level - or something like that. The problem is they muck it up on a regular basis! Despite the fact it's part of Tax office they can't link with the tax you pay on your earnings, so every time you have a change in circumstances - no matter how small - you have to report it to them. However I've found that they simply can't cope with too much information and I've actually been told not to inform them of all my changes - just wait to the end of the tax year. The problem with that is if they've paid too much credit I somehow have to pay it all back - despite my very best efforts to keep them informed! They also keep asking me for information that I've already supplied them with - several times and then to predict income for the next year because they are too bone idle to press the right button to bring it up and to do the sums! I work with a lady who used to work there and she has assured me that there is absolutely no need for them to ask these questions - they have all the information - the trouble is they are so poorly trained on the systems they use that they can't use it properly. She also toled me that those who work there won't admit to it cos it's so bad! I know it's not the fault of the call centre worker that the system is so aweful, but even making formal complaints has absolutely no effect!!

[Smooth Hound]

they are supposed to take your last yrs earnings as an example of your anticipated earnings of this yr, but saying that i am not sure what happens with a change of circumstances in the middle of a financial yr

[Stonehead]

They also keep asking me for information that I've already supplied them with - several times and then to predict income for the next year because they are too bone idle to press the right button to bring it up and to do the sums! I work with a lady who used to work there and she has assured me that there is absolutely no need for them to ask these questions - they have all the information - the trouble is they are so poorly trained on the systems they use that they can't use it properly. She also told me that those who work there won't admit to it cos it's so bad!

And then there's the horror that's the overflow centre. If you call and all their operatives with computers are busy, you get put through the overflow centre which is manned by people with no computers. They take details but can't access your files, which are then supposed to be updated on the computers later.

But, the operators get names and NI numbers wrong so you find your information assigned to someone else or their information assigned to you. Then the details get muddled — we were supposedly earning £250,000 a year at one point! Or the details get lost altogether because the paper information is supposed to be couriered to the office with the computers, but doesn't make it.

Some of the call centre operatives are okay, a handful really try to help and a large number appear to be lazy, insolent slackers. I've had some really objectionable remarks from people in the overflow centre as, not only does it not have computers, but at the time we were having problems they weren't recording calls either.

It's a complete shambles.

[Smooth Hound]

doesnt sound brilliant

[ina]

There are two kinds - child tax credit and working tax credit. I'm not 100% sure how it works

Is anybody? Seriously - if I was younger and still had the option, it would be enough to put me off starting a family...

Why can't they just have the one system, i.e. PAYE. I think that's how it works in Germany (or did when I was still living there): you tell your employer whether you are married, what your partner earns, how many children you have. And then, tax gets subtracted accordingly, plus you get a bonus for each child. Of course, you have to make up your mind which of the partners in a marriage gets the better tax rate and child bonus - can't get that twice! It seems so much simpler to me... And I never heard of anybody having problems with payments not coming through.

Might be a bit more difficult if you are self-employed, of course.

[baldowrie]

or single and not working

[ina]

Ah no - that is easy enough: you get all your benefits through the social security system - more if you have children, less if you don't. And if you are single and working, you are in a different "tax class" from a married and working person. But money always comes from the same place, so you don't have to argue with different authorities!

[baldowrie]

Ah no - that is easy enough: you get all your benefits through the social security system - more if you have children, less if you don't. And if you are single and working, you are in a different "tax class" from a married and working person. But money always comes from the same place, so you don't have to argue with different authorities!

But that requires the agencies working together...that will never do!

[ina]

But that requires the agencies working together...that will never do!

Yes, that's the problem. Far too sensible...