Tax Credit Underpayment TAT

Good Morning, My final award notice for Tax Credits for 2022-2023 was correct in terms of the awarded amount, however, it stated that there was no outstanding payment due to me. When I carefully added together all weekly payments for this tax year received into my bank account, the amount was actually £600 less than the amount the award letter stated I had been paid, even taking into account reduced payments due to an overpayment from 2021-2022. I sent in an appeal 3 weeks ago via my Government Gateway account, including a spreadsheet of all payments received during this period, however, I have heard nothing back. Is there a delay in processing appeals? Thank you :)

Hi,
You will need to contact the Tax Credits helpline in order to claify your payment amounts with an adviser:
Tax credits: general enquiries
Thank you

I received a letter saying I was overpaid in 2015 I asked them to look at it again and said that I still owe them that amount. But what about the 6 year rule that states that they cannot claim over payments after 6years the rule was made by a judge

Hi Gin Lime,
The six years relates to the Limitations Act 1980 (LA).
The LA applies to Tax Credits, whilst it is not tax credits legislation it clearly has an impact on our customers.
Section 28 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 tells us if the amount we have paid claimants for a tax year exceeds the amount of which they were entitled, it is known as an overpayment and we will make a decision on whether the overpayment should be repaid. How caseworkers reach a decision to recover overpayments is set out in COP26.

Where we have made a decision that the overpayment must be repaid, Section 29 of the Act says we must give notice to the claimants regarding the amount to be repaid, and how this is to be recovered. When a customer falls out of tax credits and their debt moved to DM, s29(3) of the TCA2002 allows the debt to be treated as a taxes debt and recovered on this basis. 

Timescales for the recovery of some debts in England and Wales are dealt with by the LA. The LA states that generally the time limit for the commencement of collecting a debt is six years from the date the debt became payable. This rule does not apply to tax credits and the pursuit of the debt. 

The only relevant section of the LA which is relevant to tax credits is the part which states time limits for bringing actions for the recovery of debts before the courts.
HMRC may still issue a Notice to Pay in cases where the overpayment is over 6 years old, and contact the customer asking for payment, we are however limited in our ability to recover the overpayment via the court. 

Although the claimants may mention time limits in their contact with us, legally we can still pursue recovery of the debt and send the debt to DWP/DfC for collection.
There is no time limit on the pursuit of the debt, only the method of recovery is limited.
Thank you.