We keep getting told we should be getting different amounts despite us telling them what we earn it always feels wrong. And now with our latest update somehow we owe them about £3000!

I just cant understand why it is so blookdy hard to just live!"

Because unless you earn exactly the same amount every week/month (for ever) it'll never add up – and always there will be owed/owing.

The short answer is no – no one understands them hence your position 🙂

these might help

http://www.entitledto.co.uk/Default.aspx
http://taxcredits.hmrc.gov.uk/HomeNew.aspx

A good friend is a chartered accountant – she couldn't understand why she kept on getting different, seemingly random figures.

After phoning them, they couldn't explain, so passed on to their expert team and several managers, none of whom could explain how they arrived at the assessment they had given, or why.

she ended up putting it all in a a savings account, not trusting that she could keep the money till after the end of the tax year – its a **** joke, they've changed my figures repeatedly and for no obvious reason

Common sense, would be that they just change your tax code for the year so you pay less tax, it would probably save hundreds of millions in admin costs!

Right I have calmed down a little now. But this whole system really angers me.

When we first started claiming tax credits they decided to ignore what we told them and think that we had only earned about £60 between us for the whole previous year. So as we wouldn't have paid tax on that amount how much do you think they gave us? That's right maximum tax credits how can you get money back from tax you havn't paid?

Why cant there just be one department that is called benefits and you just claim for benefits. You tell them if you have a job and any dependants how much you earn whether your disabled, lazy or just normal. and they tell you through a thoroughly transparent system how many benefits you earn.

Is that too difficult?

i once got a letter from them telling me i owed more than i had been paid very strange

Me and Wifey always overestimate our income so that once our accounts are done and filed in January we get a nice big lump sum after giving the real figures to the tax credits office.

We usually need it by then….