owed child tax credit from 2001-2002

A question about : owed child tax credit from 2001-2002

Has anyone heard about claiming child tax credits owed to them from 2001-2002. Apparently HMRC when they changed the system in 2001 didn't inform claimants that they should be claiming for child tax credit aswell as working tax credit. Have a look at Gladstone Brookes website for more info(they do however take a 25% cut from your successful claim). You can claim from £500-£1500 back. Must be done before 31st January 2008

Best answers:

• There are a number of these firms about which tempt you to use them to
  recover any tax you might have overpaid. You'll find quite a few by doing an internet search.
  Coincidentally one of my colleague asked me about one of these yesterday so I actually rang one company to query the info they gave out about Tax Credits and told them that as TCs weren't launched until 2003 how could people claim them prior to this.
  They waffled on about tax rebates which is a different thing altogether. These firms also tell you you might be due a rebate for say using your own car for work, bought tools and equipment for work, worked in the building trade etc etc. In fact anything anyone could find out (and get a tax rebate) themselves without paying this company.
  They're rather misleading but worded in such a way as to get away with it. I'd put them on a par with these debt management companies who take a percentage for liaising with your creditors with offers of payment. Also these companies who've jumped on the bandwagon to 'help you' reclaim your bank charges (for a small fee!!). As all of us who use this site know, it can be done easily yourself with the money going into your own pocket.
• Before the present Tax credit system came into being at the beginning of the 2003-2004 tax year families got Children's Tax Credit (thanks msmicawber) via an allowance in the tax code.
  HMRC can review anyones taxes going back 6 years so if you think your family didn't receive WFTC in 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 then just call HMRC.
  Similarly if you think you should have claimed for expenses, tools, professional subscriptions etc in relation to your job then again contact HMRC yourself.
  The companies who advertise that they can do it for you generally take a cut of whatever refund you receive. I've seen some where they actually take 40%
• There was a benefit WFTC that ran until April 2003 when Tax Credits came along. It had nothing to do with your tax code. Any claim for WFTC could only be backdated 3 months. You can't make retrospective claims. Prior to Tax Credits starting, you got a 'Married mans allowance' on your tax code which was abolished in Aptil 2002 (I think). You might be able to get HMRC to check your tax code was right, but you can't claim WFTC as its too late. It sounds like a scam to me.
• Sorry, Jayjay, that's not correct. The OP is asking about Children's Tax Credit which wasn't well advertised at the time so a lot of parents missed out on it (myself included). It was administered through the tax code, allowing a higher personal allowance before tax and was worth about £500 per year.
  As Faye said, anyone who thinks they're eligible should contact your tax office and ask for a form to be sent to you (it's not downloadable), but you have to be quick as the cut off is this month. You have to be persistent as whoever you speak to may misunderstand and tell you to speak to the Tax Credits people, but persist that it's Children's Tax Credit, not Child Tax Credit and you should find someone who knows about it eventually.
• There's a bit in this link about it
  www.youthinformation.com/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=90900
• there is already a thread on this, can't do the link but it's *does the tax man owe you Ј1500*
  donnalove
• I did a search on here and there's a thread called 'Child Tax Credit (old legislation)'. I can't do a link but it should come up if you search the phrase
• If you want to enquire about it all you need to do is call up your local tax office and ask if you were on the correct tax code for your circumstances.
  It is regarding children's tax credits.
  This was to do with tax coding and not the current CTC and WTC.
• It's very easy to do. I've just phoned my local tax office. The deadline has passed for the 2001/02 tax year - fortunately it seems we received it for both tax years but there was in fact an additional baby allowance of Ј529 if you had a baby born in the 2002/03 tax year, which is mentioned in a previous post and we didn't receive this so I have been told to send them a letter and they will look into it. Hopefully I will have a refund coming my way soon.
  Please be clear if contacting your tax office it's the old children's tax credit and not child tax credit which is what is currently given to families with children.
• Just to let you know, I also received some interest on top of the Children's Tax Credit that I didn't receive at the time, which was very nice.
• The interest wasn't much, just a few quid. I'm not sure how much it would be on £520.
• Is there any way at all that you can still claim the 2001/02 as well as the 2002/03. I know they saythe deadline has passed but surely there is some law that states when you actually found this information out is the time. I have sent a letter about the 2002/03 and telephoned our tax office and they have said they are 6 weeks behind with the post. I had already telephoned the tax office that now deals with my husbands tax ref number some weeks ago and was told i could not speak about my husband as it was him that needed to claim and that it was not that tax office i needed to send the info to. He worked at the same place in the years mentioned so to me it seems they are definately making it difficult for people to claim.(I have sent it to them as as i see no other tax office could of dealt with it). I have not got his p60 for those years so can anyone suggest anything.
• Hmm, I doubt you'd be able to claim for 2001/2 now that it's another 6 months past the 6 year deadline. It's just like a statute barred debt in that respect. Still, there's no harm in trying. Why isn't your husband claiming since it's rebate on the tax that he paid back then, by the sound of it? In fairness to the tax people, I don't think they make it difficult to claim, but they cannot deal with someone other than the person themselves, just as you wouldn't expect a bank to discuss someone's bank account with someone other than the account holder.
• I have only just came across this on internet and just spoke to my current tax office. They are sending me a form and said that if i duplicate the details saying I also want to claim for the 2001/2002 tax year that I should still be able to claim these allowances for both years.
  Just a simple form so avoid these companies that want to take your cash.