Call HMRC now... and you can pay your half of bill

Probes a world of scams and scandals

Mrs M.D. writes: In 2014, my then partner and I were overpaid by more than £2,000 in tax credits by Revenue & Customs. I knew this was an overpayment as it was based on income for an earlier year when we were unemployed. I offered to return the money but the taxman said we had to wait for the next six-monthly review. A few months later, my partner and I separated. The money depleted and when I moved away I informed Revenue & Customs, but now I have received a demand for the full amount.

YOU have told me that towards the end of 2014, you received a letter from debt collectors acting for the tax office. You offered to pay half the debt and were told that this was fine, and a reduced demand would be issued. But you heard nothing more until this latest demand arrived, asking you to pay the whole £2,252 debt in one lump sum.

As a single parent, you cannot just lay your hands on this sort of money overnight. What makes the demand rather ironic is that from April 2015 until March this year you were still receiving tax credits and could have afforded to make the repayment in instalments.

I asked officials at the Revenue head office to look into this, and they told me that the normal procedure is for a letter to be sent to both partners, showing the total sum owed. The hope is that couples will agree who pays what. If couples cannot agree, or if one partner flatly refuses to pay anything and expects the other to foot the entire bill, then the Revenue has its own Code of Practice that swings into action. This internal rule book is surprisingly realistic and down to earth. It accepts that one partner may not even know where the other has gone, or may be reluctant to make contact. In this case, it says, all you need do is call the Payment Helpline on 0345 302 1429 and explain what has happened.

According to Revenue HQ: ‘You will then be asked to pay back half of the overpayment, with your partner being asked to pay back the rest. You won’t be asked to pay back more than half of the overpayment.’

Officials have told me they have no trace of any contact in 2014, offering to repay the money at the time. But I think you will find that if you now make the call and suggest you can repay your half of the debt by instalments, you will find yourself knocking at an open door.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.