overpayment tax credits 2012 help please

[kerry1974]

i need advice please, i have just received a letter regarding a may be overpayment of child tax credit, i am a single mother of three, my oldest daughter was 16 back in 2012 and when she finished school she went into full time education at this point the tax credits asked for the information witch i sent, un be known to me my daughter wasn't going to collage, and i found this out back in September 2013 she finished the course in January 2013,, i no i was wrong now but never thought about it at the time to let them no, in November 2013 i added my son to the tax credits and told them my change in circumstances about my daughter, so i carried on with normal life but never noticed that they had not acted on me reporting the change, as the money goes in and then out to pay bills as i am on a low income, it wasn't until the renewal that i noticed she was still on my claim and i rang back in march and told them, they said it would be a few weeks to make the change, but at the same time i also told them that my oldest was moving out, they said ring back when she has moved out cos there is nothing they can do till then, this confused me but he was adamant that i need to ring again, i have then received this letter asking for proof of the collage she went to cos they think i have been overpaid since September 2012!!!!!!i am now worrying my self ill that they will prosecute me for fraud, i understand that i will have to pay back a large sum and have penalties but i did inform them, also worried now cos i have another change in circumstances as i have just got a job and was going to ring about that, now they will think that things are wrong, as i was self employed and got working tax credit, but the self employment didn't work out and i was getting deeper and deeper into debt, so have been looking for a job.
has anyone been in this situation and what will the outcome be?? as normal with important bills and letters it came Friday and i have not been able to do anything till tomo

[des8]

Re: overpayment tax credits 2012 help please

Hi and welcome.
First up, stop panicking, Take a deep breath.
You are not the first to have been caught out like this, HMRC are good at not acting in a trimely manner on information given them.
Second, I would not advise telephoning them. You need every thing in writing.
When my daughter had similar problems we had a lot of help from this site: http://www.taxcc.org/dispute1.htm
Following the steps outlined will stop HMRC current attempts to recover their cash and give you the information you require to argue the legitimacy of their attempted clawback.
When you have that info, come back for further advice if you want.
I'm sure others will be along soon with their help..... you are not alone.