Tax Credit Overpayment
Because of the credit crunch and recession, the Government has tripled its resources into Benefit Fraud and Tax Credit Fraud enquiries.
It is not when if they catch you but when.
Consult the experts. For more information or a free legal opinion telephone 020-7381-8111 (24 hour service) or email law@rhplaw.co.uk
If you are in trouble for having wrongfully claimed tax credits, we can help.
We have an excellent track record in avoiding prosecutions – We can help you even if the prosecution process has started.
We have great success in getting the HMRC, to look at cases again, and exchange a civil penalty, for a criminal prosecution, even if one has begun.
There are four reasons that the Tax Credit Office may charge a penalty:
- You have fraudulently given the wrong information on your tax credits claim – that is you deliberately gave the wrong information
- You’ve negligently given the wrong information on your tax credits claim – that is you didn’t take enough care to make sure the information given was correct
- You didn’t tell the Tax Credit Office about changes in your circumstances when you should do so
- You didn’t give the Tax Credit Office the information or evidence they ask for
A civil investigation is not a prosecution BUT the Tax Credit Office will charge a financial penalty of up to £3,000.
If they ask for information and you do not supply it, they can charge you £60 a day until you do!
We can help you avoid this
We can help you to co-operate with them and tell them all the facts and they will consider lowering their penalty.
Criminal investigations
In some serious cases you can face criminal prosecutions by the Tax Credit Office. Common sentences include:-
- imprisonment
- community service orders and/or
- confiscation of assets
As a minimum you will get a criminal record.
We have a high success rate in negotiating and successfully defending these claims, or otherwise obtaining the best possible outcome, i.e. the re-payment of the tax credits claimed, with payment terms, without a criminal prosecution or even a caution.
We can prepare a statement with you in our office, to avoid a stressful tape-recorded interview by the Fraud Enquiry Office or police.
People break the law for all sorts of reasons. For some, the pressures of family life can push them into situations from which they find it hard to escape from.
At Hylton-Potts Legal Consultants we understand this and how sometimes people can get themselves into unfortunate situations. The work we do is more than just a job for us, and we work tirelessly to always get the best outcome for our client.
Hylton-Potts – We can help – We are on your side
At Hylton-Potts we can further reduce a sentence by making representations as to the circumstances of the offence and how the fraud began, what the money was spent on and particular special matters relevant such as family breakdown, illness or disability. If a client has committed a benefit fraud in order to feed their young family, then we can ensure this is taken into account in sentencing and given full consideration by the court.
Pressure from others such as bullying by partners, forced marriages, not understanding the regulations, poor English, medical problems and full cooperation, are all factors we can help you with, to get the best possible result.
The Fraud Investigators know us all over the country and love our approach. We make their life easy, and keep investigation costs down.
Unlike experienced Legal Aid solicitors, we do not ask for copy documents for the sake of it, or treat them like idiots, which they are certainly not.
Invariably the response is “Thank Heavens you are involved. How can we sort this out ?”.
Contact the expert – Rodney Hylton-Potts
24 hour helpline and e-mail advice service
Phone 020 7381 8111 or law@rhplaw.co.uk
Is Tax evasion is as bad as benefit fraud?
Is there a distinction between withholding money by deception and obtaining money by deception? Leona Helmsley, the billionaire US hotel proprietor, once infamously said that “only little people pay taxes”. If she had ever lived in the UK, she might have added: “Only little people go to jail for tax fraud.”
Cheat the Government out of £20,000 in benefits and there is a very good chance that you will be put behind bars. Cheat the Government out of double that amount through tax evasion and there is a very good chance you will not.
In May 2010 Susanne Rees, of Bridgend in Wales, was sentenced to 60 days in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding her local council of £19,000 in housing and council tax benefit. Only three months earlier Michael Frost, a businessman from Cheltenham, avoided jail and was given only 60 hours of community service after pleading guilty to evading £65,000 of income tax through self-assessment fraud.
Probably the only reason Mr Frost escaped going to jail — despite cheating the Government out of more than three times as much as Ms Rees — was because he wore a smart suit and employed an even smarter lawyer.
A quick trawl through court records shows that defendants convicted of benefits fraud of more than £20,000 are often sent to prison, and sometimes a lot less.
Yet less than one in every 1,000 people subject to HM Revenue & Customs investigation for tax evasion is prosecuted to the degree that a criminal sentence even becomes a possibility. Far fewer end up in prison.
Patrick Malkinson, chairman of Boston United Football Club, avoided jail despite defrauding the taxman of almost £400,000. Had Mr Malkinson’s cleaner fraudulently claimed even a tenth as much in housing benefit, you can be sure that she would have ended up in prison.
Of course, the different sentences handed out for morally (or at least financially) equivalent crimes could, in part, be down to the record of the offenders. Some of the many benefit fraudsters put behind bars may have previous convictions, for example. But that cannot be the entire explanation.
It is common for wealthy businessmen caught up in tax investigations to do deals with HM Revenue & Customs. The taxman rarely starts a criminal prosecution when someone is prepared to co-operate.
With an estimated £1.1 billion in benefits going astray each year, and even more in tax still awaiting collection, we must consider carefully what, if any, distinction between withholding money by deception and obtaining money by deception.
Sentencing must be fair and proportionate, irrespective of your class, wealth or the cut of your suit.
For more information or free legal advice telephone 020-7381-8111 (24 hour service) or email law@rhplaw.co.uk
