How do I know if I have an overpayment?
It sometimes isn't easy to tell whether HMRC think you have been overpaid. You might receive a letter from HMRC which tells you that you have been overpaid. It might also tell you how much the overpayment is and that you must pay it back straight away.
Or, you might not receive any letters telling you about it. Instead, your tax credit payments may go down. If they think you have been overpaid it will say so on your tax credit award notice. These notices are the pages that are sent to you after you first claim tax credits and again every time you report a change to HMRC. They are normally 4-8 pages long and on the front have your name, address and the amount of your tax credits. Overpayments are normally shown in Part 3 next to ‘amount due from you’.
If you are still not sure if you have been overpaid, don’t worry. The notices they send are sometimes very hard to understand. Take your notice along to an adviser (see How to find an adviser) or contact the tax credit helpline on 0845 300 3900 (textphone: 0845 300 3909).
