Why have I been overpaid?

There are many reasons why overpayments occur. It surprises a lot of people to find out that you can have a tax credit overpayment even if you do everything correctly, because that is how the system was designed.

Tax credits are designed to pay out first, and double check the amounts later. This means it is not certain that what you are getting is right. Remember those forms you receive every summer? Once the tax year ends in April, HMRC send you those forms to ask you to give them your actual income and confirm your details. Only then can they tell you how much you were actually entitled to for the year that has just finished.

Look at your award notices

The first place to start is to look back at your award notices. Check the details on them. In particular, you should make sure the following are correct:

Your National Insurance numbers

The number of hours worked

Your income (this year and last year)

Whether you live with your partner (if you do you should be claiming as a couple. This means that both sets of details should be on the award notice)

The number of children

Whether you are disabled and qualify for the disability element. (Disability for tax credits is different to disability for other things. It is important to check that you meet the tax credit disability conditions)

Whether you or a child claim Disability Living Allowance at the higher care rate

Childcare costs

The payments listed at the end match what you were actually paid (check against your bank statements).

If you have checked all of the above details and think the HMRC have them correctly, look at the common reasons for an overpayment below to see if one of them might be the cause of your overpayment.

Common reasons

The most common reasons for overpayments are explained below, along with how to find out if this is what happened to you.

1. Your income has gone up	HMRC may have paid you too much because they thought your income is lower than it actually is. Normally, if your income for this year is no more than £25,000 higher than it was last year, your award will not be affected. But there are still some rises in income that are not covered by that ‘buffer zone’. See point 8 below. If you had a claim in tax years 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, you were only allowed a rise of £2500. Anything more than this did change your award.	To check for this you should look back at your award notices. Look at the income used and see whether you told HMRC your income was higher. It is always best to let HMRC know if your income is going up, even if it is by less than £25,000. That is because HMRC need to know what your income really is in order to pay you the right amount next year.
2. HMRC did not act on what you told them	You might have told HMRC about a change in your circumstances. (For example, that your son has left school, or that you are no longer working.) If HMRC didn’t change your award straight away, you may have carried on receiving too much money. This will become an overpayment once the change is actually made.	When you report changes, it is a good idea to write down who you spoke to and when. If you haven’t done this don’t worry. Have a look on your award notices to see if the changes were made at the right time. HMRC have 30 days to make a change once you tell them about something. If they take longer than this, they should not ask you to repay any overpayment which builds up after the 30 days (unless they sent you a new award notice and you didn't tell them of their mistake within 1 month). See I don’t think I should pay the money back. What can I do? for information about HMRC's responsibilities.
3. Disability error	This mistake often happens when people are confused about what rate of Disability Living Allowance they receive. There are questions on the claim form that ask if you or a child receive Disability Living Allowance at the higher care rate. If you tick these boxes, HMRC award you extra tax credits because of your severe disability. If it later turns out that you were receiving a lower level of Disability Living Allowance, HMRC will take back this extra amount.	Check your award letter from the Department of Work and Pensions. This will tell you what level of Disability Living Allowance you receive. Or you could phone the DWP Disability Benefits Helpline on 08457 123 456. Then check your tax credit award notice to see if it says you are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and at what rate. It should match the rate on your Disability Living Allowance award letter.
4. HMRC say you didn’t send back forms	After April each year, HMRC send out renewal forms. These forms ask you what your income was in the year that has just finished. They also ask you to check that your details are correct. The form is your claim for the new tax year. If the form is not sent back to HMRC by the correct date, it can mean that your current tax credit award ends. All of the payments you have received since April will be overpayments. If you separated from your partner in the last tax year or early in the current tax year, you will each have to return a set of forms. If you have gone on to make a new claim in just your name, you have to return forms for your old joint claim AND forms for your new claim.	Check your letters from HMRC. If your award ended because you did not renew you should have received a letter called a ‘statement of account’ which tells you that your tax credits are ended. If you contacted HMRC within 30 days of getting the statement of account letter, they should be able to renew your claim over the phone. This will cancel the overpayment. After 30 days, you can only get your tax credit payments back into payment if you have a good reason why you did not renew. For example, because you were seriously ill, or your partner was seriously ill and you could not get someone to act on your behalf in time. Otherwise, you will be left with an overpayment.
5. HMRC made a mistake	Sometimes overpayments happen because HMRC have made a mistake. This may happen when there is a computer error.	These overpayments are hard to find on your award notices. If you think that HMRC may have made a mistake on your award, you should try and get some advice. See How to find an adviser.
6. Wrong details on your award notice	If any of the details about you were wrong on your award notice, it might mean that HMRC have paid you too much in tax credits. This is why it is important to check your award notice each time you receive it and tell HMRC if there is a mistake. An example of this might be that HMRC paid you for 3 children when you only had two.	Check all of the details on your award notices to see if you can find anything wrong or anything that you told HMRC about but they did not do anything about.
7. Moving in with a partner or leaving a partner	When you move in with a new partner or you split up with a partner, you must tell HMRC straight away. Your tax credit award normally ends from the date the change happened. So if you delay in telling HMRC, everything you have received after that date will be an overpayment.	Check your award notice to see if you are claiming as a single person or with a partner. If you are claiming with a partner, their details should show on your notice. This is a complicated area. If you have an overpayment because of this you should get advice. See How to make a complaint. If you were late telling HMRC about a partner moving in or leaving and you went on to make a new claim straight away as a newly single person or couple, you might be able to have your overpayment reduced. See I was late telling HMRC about my partner for more information.
8. Income goes down	Tax credits are paid using your previous year’s income. If you think your income will be lower this year, you can ring HMRC and ask them to pay your tax credits on your new estimated income for the current year. This often means your tax credits will go up. But, if later in the year your income goes up again, it can mean you have an overpayment. This is caused by the way tax credits work out income across a full year instead of weekly or monthly.	Have a look at your award notices to see what incomes were used to calculate your tax credits. If you gave an estimate, you should see the word ‘estimate’ next to your income. The later award notices will then show a higher income.