How to Dispute a Tax Credit Overpayment: Step 2

Step 2: Write a Case History & 2nd Tier Complaint

If and when the first dispute stage fails, move on to 2nd Tier Complaints, during which you should stress that this is also still a dispute, not just a complaint. We recommend that you do this by writing a Case History (or case letter).It just needs to be in date order with brief outlines of what happened at each stage; mainly what mistakes you know of, when you contacted HMRC, or when you received relevant letters and calls from them.

Although it may take a while to track down dates, times and information for your history, I promise you that in terms of your dispute it will become very useful. HMRC are looking to blame you for the overpayment by claiming you failed to meet your responsibilities to check, correct and keep your award updated (see page 3 of COP26 for a full list). Add any relevant information supplied in HMRC’s response to the RRR stage (Step 1a) or in the SAR information (Step 1b), but make sure to highlight and sum up with anything you contest or feel wasn’t addressed in their response to the RRR / TC846. (Such as dates of events or allegations that you failed to act, etc).

See our Guide to Translating Your Data and Writing Your Case History for more detail.

Send your case history with covering letter template, stressing issues that may have gone ignored, or to question how reasonable the decision was. Send to either the address the last response came from, or if none is provided;

2nd Tier Complaints Section,
Tax Credit Office,
Preston,
PR1 OYP.

Copy in your MP, using this MP covering letter, to make her/him aware of your case.

Throughout all of this keep full records of any contact with the Tax Credit Office; dates, times and content of telephone calls, copies of letters, etc.

If HMRC hassle you for repayment or affect your current tax credit payments, complain, using our "Dispute Status" complaint letter; state that you are still in Dispute and as per their own Code of Practice (COP26) they should not be seeking to recover until this process has been exhausted.

This stage is only over if and when they write to inform you they have “decided not to write off the overpayment”. Please note that it is common to receive a partial success. i.e. one or more portions of the overpayment may be written off at this stage if HMRC accept they caused the event that created that particular portion. This is good and typical of most overpayment disputes, as they are won bit by bit, one round at a time.

Now, if you haven't already done so, move onto Dispute Step 3 and get your MP involved.