Research Library
This page attempts to bring together all of the available facts, figures and reports about Tax Credits and Tax Credit overpayments. Please let us know if you come across anything that you think should be included.
Contents
- Codes and Abbreviations Used By HMRC
- Tax Credit Manuals and Other HMRC Information
- Different Versions of COP26
- Official HMRC Tax Credit Statistics
- Tax Credit Office MP Hotline
- The Adjudicator's Office Reports
- Parliamentary Ombudsman Reports
- Public Accounts Committee Reports
- Public Administration Select Committee Reports
- Tax Credit Consultation Group Meeting Minutes
- The Tax Credit Act (2002)
Codes and Abbreviations Used By HMRC
A list of the codes and abbreviations that the HMRC Tax Credit Office uses is very useful if you're trying to work your way through your Subject Access Request data once you've received it. These are a bit rare, so download our copy:
List of Abbreviations and Codes Used By The Tax Credit Office
Tax Credit Manuals and Other HMRC Information
| Tax Credit Rates & Allowances | Rates and thresholds of Tax Credits |
| Tax Credits Manual | The HMRC Tax Credits Manual |
| Tax Credit Technical Manual | A guide to the law relating to Tax Credits |
| Tax Credits Claimant Compliance Manual | The HMRC manual regarding claimant compliance |
| List of Tax Credit Forms and Letters | List of Tax Credit forms and letters used by HMRC |
| Tax Credit Leaflets | Other Tax Credit leaflets, letters and inserts sent out by HMRC |
| Staff Manuals Homepage | The main page for all HMRC staff manuals |
| On-Line Library | The main page for the HMRC on-line library |
Different Versions of COP26
HMRC Code of Practice 26 details what happens if you have an overpayment of Tax Credits. There is still confusion about which version of COP 26 applies to different disputes.
HMRC apparently told the Tax Credit Consultation Group that the relevant date is when the dispute decision was actually made, but no mention can be found within the TCCG meeting minutes to verify this.
So, all new dispute decisions made on or after 31st January 2008 should have the new test applied. The 'old reasonable belief' test will apply if HMRC have already made a decision before 31st January 2008, using the reasonable belief test, and the claimant is not happy with that decision. When the claimant asks them to look at it again, they’ll be looking to see if they made the decision correctly and therefore applying the old test.
- COP26: December 2003
- COP26: August 2004
- COP 26 January 2008 (Do you have a copy of this?)
- COP26: March 2008
Official HMRC Tax Credit Statistics
Full Tax Credit statistics can be found at: HMRC Statistics: Personal Tax Credits
The overpayment figures below are taken from the 'Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics Finalised Annual Award Supplement On Payments' report for the relevant years:
| Finalised Tax Credit Awards 2008-2009 |
There were 6,996,000 claims for Tax Credits. 1,036,000 claims were overpaid by a total of £917,000,000. That's 14.81% of all claims still OVERPAID. |
| Finalised Tax Credit Awards 2007-2008 |
There were 6,730,000 claims for Tax Credits. 1,334,000 claims were overpaid by a total of £941,000,000. That's 19.82% of all claims still OVERPAID. |
| Finalised Tax Credit Awards 2006-2007 |
There were 6,530,000 claims for Tax Credits. 1,291,000 claims were overpaid by a total of £953,000,000. That's 19.77% of all claims still OVERPAID. This is the first year that the higher £25,000 income disregard came into force. |
| Finalised Tax Credit Awards 2005-2006 |
There were 6,480,000 claims for Tax Credits. 1,902,000 claims were overpaid by a total of £1,573,000,000. That's 29.32% of all claims OVERPAID. |
| Finalised Tax Credit Awards 2004-2005 |
There were 6,458,000 claims for Tax Credits. 1,958,000 claims were overpaid by a total of £1,695,000,000. That's 30.32% of all claims OVERPAID. |
| Finalised Tax Credit Awards 2003-2004 |
There were 5,670,000 claims for Tax Credits. 1,879,000 claims were overpaid by a total of £1,931,000,000. That's 33.14% of all claims OVERPAID. |
Tax Credit Office MP Hotline
The table below shows the number of calls answered by the 'Tax Credit Office MP Hotline' staff.
In the period 2006-2007, 416 calls by MPs were abandoned before being answered. A further 202 calls were unanswered in the period from April 2007- February 2008.
| Calls by MPs to Tax Credit MP Hotline | |||||
| Month/Year | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
| April | 1,882 | 930 | 1,411 | 1,164 | 1,199 |
| May | 4,371 | 774 | 942 | 1,402 | 1,286 |
| June | 4,186 | 1,000 | 1,234 | 1,535 | Unavailable |
| July | 1,472 | 1,114 | 1,433 | 1,294 | Unavailable |
| August | 858 | 991 | 1,337 | 1,348 | Unavailable |
| September | 815 | 1,326 | 1,300 | 1,398 | Unavailable |
| October | 1,032 | 1,328 | 1,463 | 1,599 | Unavailable |
| November | 835 | 1,714 | 1,987 | 1,823 | Unavailable |
| December | 916 | 1,675 | 1,613 | 1,458 | Unavailable |
| January | 1,032 | 1,730 | 1,712 | 1,498 | Unavailable |
| February | 1,052 | 1,690 | 1,195 | 1,351 | Unavailable |
| March | 839 | 1,700 | 1,241 | 1,490 | Unavailable |
| Totals | 19,290 | 15,972 | 16,868 | 17,360 | 2,485 |
Sources: House of Commons Hansard Written Answers:
21 February 2005 (pt 20) Column 76W
18 October 2005 (pt 29) Column 924W
21 March 2006 (pt 41) Column 348W
25 June 2007 (pt 0096) Column 419W
1 May 2008 (pt 0012) Column 634W
The Adjudicator's Office Reports
The Adjudicator acts as a referee looking into complaints about HMRC, including the Tax Credit Office (TCO). They investigate and help to resolve complaints from individuals and businesses who remain unhappy about the way their affairs have been handled. Their leaflet AO1 gives detailed information about how they deal with complaints, and there is more information available on The Adjudicator's website.
Links to each of The Adjudicator's Annual Reports are below:
- The Adjudicator's Office Annual Report 2004
- The Adjudicator's Office Annual Report 2005
- The Adjudicator's Office Annual Report 2006
- The Adjudicator's Office Annual Report 2007
- The Adjudicator's Office Annual Report 2008
Parliamentary Ombudsman Reports
The Parliamentary Ombudsman (PO) carry out independent investigations into complaints about poor service and unfair, or improper, actions by Government Departments or their agents.
More information can be found on the Parliamentary Ombudsman website. There used to be a lot of useful information on their website, but following an upgrade the site has become little more than window dressing, with a great deal of information having vanished. In fact, it almost seems as if the purpose of the website upgrade was to make things difficult for visitors.
Links to The Ombudsman's reports regarding Tax Credits are below.
| PO 3rd Report Session 2005-06 | Tax Credits: Putting Things Right |
| PO 5th Report Session 2006-07 | Tax Credits: Getting It Wrong? |
Public Accounts Committee Reports
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is appointed by the House of Commons to examine “the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by Parliament to meet the public expenditure, and of such other accounts laid before Parliament as the committee may think fit”. More information can be found on the PAC website.
You can read all documents published by the Public Accounts Committee on The Parliament website.
Although the two reports directly below were published before new Tax Credits were introduced, and are about the old Working Family Tax Credits, they are included here for continuity:
| PAC 67th Report 2001-02 | HTML |
| PAC 29th Report 2002-03 | HTML |
Links to the Public Accounts Committee reports regarding new Tax Credits are below. The main links will open a PDF version of the report, but there is also an option to view each report in HTML, which is browsable just like any website. The Treasury response to each PAC report can also be viewed.
Public Administration Select Committee Reports
The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) are a committee of eleven Members of Parliament, appointed by the House of Commons and drawn from the three largest political parties. The Committee examines the quality and standards of administration within the Civil Service and scrutinizes the reports of the Parliamentary Ombudsman. More information can be found on the PASC website.
See all documents published by the Public Administration Select Committee on The Parliament website.
The two reports below were produced in response to the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report 'Tax Credits: Putting Things Right' from 2005-06. The main links will open a PDF version of the report, but there is also an option to view each report in HTML, which is browsable just like any website.
| PASC 2nd Report 2005-06 Tax Credits: Putting Things Right |
HTML |
| PASC 4th Special Report 2005-06 Tax Credits: Putting Things Right: Government Response |
HTML |
Tax Credit Consultation Group Meeting Minutes
The Tax Credit Consultation Group (TCCG) minutes can be found on the HMRC TCCG website Index and Archive. Although the first meeting minutes listed are for 17th January 2005, there were earlier meetings - but no minutes seem to be available for them.
For ease, all the available minutes from the Tax Credit Consultation Group meetings are linked below:
The Tax Credit Act (2002)
This page just wouldn't be complete without including the offending legislation. It isn't known whether the version linked to here incorporates any amendments that have been issued since 2002.
The main link opens a PDF version, but there is also an option to view it in HTML, which can be browsed just like any website. The Explanatory Notes give a 'plain English' interpretation of the legislation.
| Tax Credit Act 2002 | HTML | Explanatory Notes |
TCC DISPUTE PACK
Our latest Dispute Pack contains everything you need to dispute your Tax Credit overpayment with HMRC:
Latest Active Topics On
Tax Credit Casualties Forum
