4. Mrs B complains that HMRC failed to use the information she gave it to provide her with an accurate tax credit award. She also complains she did not receive an in-year finalisation reward letter it said it sent to her in April 2024.
5. Mrs B tells us that she now has to pay back the tax credit overpayment and this is causing her hardship. It is also causing her distress and physical health issues.
6. Mrs B would like HMRC to accept its error and repay her the tax credit payments.
7. At the start of April 2023, HMRC sent Mrs B an annual declaration for the tax years 2022/23 which asked her to confirm if the income figures it held was correct. It showed her income from two jobs she held as well as from a pension she received.
8. In mid-April 2023, Mrs B started a third job. Later that month she completed the annual declaration and confirmed that the income it held for 2022/23 was correct. In February 2024, Mrs B was told that her tax credits would be migrated to Universal Credit (UC). Mrs B started claiming UC from the beginning of April 2024 and her tax credits ended at the same time.
9. After the tax credit claim ended, HMRC sent an in-year notice which asked Mrs B to confirm her income for the tax year 2023/24. She had until the beginning of May 2024 to confirm it. When HMRC did not hear from Mrs B it used the income it had calculated. It concluded that Mrs B had been overpaid tax credits for the tax year 2023/24 and she would need to repay close to £2000.
10. Mrs B complained to HMRC at the beginning of August 2024, explaining that she disagreed with the overpayment and that she had not received the in-year notice letter.
11. HMRC wrote to say the calculation was correct. She complained again at the beginning of September 2024, reiterating what she had previously said. She received a response at the end of September 2024, explaining the reason for the overpayment and that the HMRC system showed the in-year notice letter had been sent. It also noted that there was no record of Mrs B contacting HMRC to tell it about the income from the third job she started in April 2023.
12. It concluded that the overpayment had been calculated correctly, and the debt had been passed to DWP to collect.
13. Mrs B approached the Adjudicator’s Office (the AO) at the beginning of October 2024. The AO completed its investigation in April 2025 and did not uphold it.
14. Mrs B brought her complaint to us in April 2025.
HMRC failed to use the information she gave it
15. The HMRC webpage ‘Report changes that affect your tax credits’ says:
Your tax credits could go up, down or stop if there are changes in your family or work life. You must report any changes to your circumstances to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Do this as soon as possible to make sure you get the right amount of tax credits. You’ll have to pay back the money if you’re overpaid.
16. Mrs B told us and the AO that she called HMRC to tell it about the new job she started in April 2023 and the change in her income. She told us HMRC failed to act on this information.
17. HMRC should act on information provided by a taxpayer and if it failed to do so this will be taken into consideration when deciding whether it should cancel an overpayment debt. This is considered under the Extra Statutory Concession A19 (ESC A19) which is a means by which HMRC can determine if there is sufficient reason and evidence to cancel an overpayment. ESC A19 says:
‘If there is no trace of information, or dates of contact that the taxpayer claims it was sent, or made, each case should be judged on its merits, using whatever information is available on the taxpayer record.’
18. The AO said, in its report it did not see any evidence on the HMRC system of Mrs B contacting it by phone during that period. We asked Mrs B if she had any evidence she could share with us and she told us she had requested call records form her mobile phone provider. Unfortunately, it was unable to provide them from that time. Its website says it can only provide records going back six months.
19. We need documented evidence that those calls were made to be able to say that HMRC failed to act on information. While we are not disputing Mrs B’s account, there is no evidence to show a call was made, so we cannot say HMRC has failed to act. Therefore, its decision is in line with ESC A19 there are no indications of maladministration.
In-year finalisation reward letter
20. Mrs B told us that she did not receive the in-year notice letter at the beginning of April 2024 and that was why she did not correct the figures HMRC had on file.
21. The HMRC Charter says:
Getting things right
We’ll give you accurate, consistent, and clear information. This will help you meet your obligations, and understand your rights and what you can claim. When we ask for information, we rely on you to give us full, accurate and timely answers.
22. We understand Mrs B was shocked when she found out she would need to repay tax credits she had already received, believing her tax affairs were in order. We are sorry to hear of the distress she experienced.
23. The HMRC system shows that it generated that letter and does not show any indication it was returned. We cannot be certain what happened to the letter once it left HMRC and acknowledge that it is frustrating for Mrs B to have missed the chance to check the figures HMRC were using. Based on what we have seen, we are satisfied HMRC did what it should in line with its Charter Therefore, we cannot say there is an indication of maladministration on the part of HMRC in this aspect of the complaint.
1. We have carefully considered Mrs B’s complaint about HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). We are sorry to hear of the difficulties she has experienced in relation to her tax credits. We can see from the information she has shared with us that these matters have caused her frustration and distress, and we are sorry to hear that is the case.
2. We have considered the evidence available to us and can see that HMRC acted on the information it held about Mrs B’s income. There is no evidence that it was told in April 2023 there had been a change in her income that would have meant it would have adjusted the tax credit payments and avoided an overpayment to Mrs B. There is evidence that an in-year notice was sent to Mrs B giving her details of the income on which tax credits were paid and an opportunity to amend that if it was incorrect. Unfortunately, it seems Mrs B did not receive it and while we cannot say this is the fault of HMRC, we acknowledge how frustrating it must be to have missed that opportunity to put things right.
3. Based on what we have seen, we will not take any further action on this complaint. We explain in more detail below how we reached this decision.