5. Challenging a decision

If you think a decision about your child tax credit is wrong, you can ask HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to look at it again. This process is known as a ‘mandatory reconsideration’. Provided you ask within the time limit (usually 30 days), HMRC notifies you of the decision in a ‘mandatory reconsideration notice’. If you are still not happy when you get this notice, you can appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal. If it was not possible to ask HMRC to reconsider the decision within 30 days, you can ask for a late review (within 13 months), explaining why it is late. You can also ask HMRC to look at a decision again at any time if certain grounds are met – eg, if there has been an official error.

If you want to complain about the way your claim has been dealt with, write to the Tax Credit Office, BX9 1ER.

If you have been overpaid, the leaflet COP26, What Happens if We’ve Paid You Too Much Tax Credits, explains when the overpayment can be written off and what you need to do. HMRC sets out what you are expected to do to ensure your claim is correct and what you can expect of HMRC. If you have met all your responsibilities and HMRC has failed to meet one of its own, the overpayment should not be recovered. This leaflet also explains when you can ask to repay an amount owed over a longer period. If an overpayment is challenged, it should not be recovered until the dispute is resolved. If you want to dispute recovery of an overpayment, HMRC expects you to do so within three months.