Tax credit fraud
The Tax Credit Office takes the issue of tax credit fraud very seriously
and aims to run a tax credits system that you can trust to support you.
On this page:
What the Tax Credit Office is doing to stop fraud
The Tax Credit Office works hard to protect you and the system against
the risk of fraud by:
- regularly checking the details given on claim forms
- checking with childcare providers and employers that the details
given are right
- working closely with organisations like the Department for Work
and Pensions, the Police, and the Immigration Service
- working closely with the British Banking Association to find bank
accounts that are being used for tax credit fraud
When they work with other organisations, they’ll make sure they comply
with data protection laws.
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Types of fraud investigations
When the Tax Credit Office discovers a case of fraud they can:
- charge a financial penalty
- prosecute
There are two types of investigation they can use to deal with tax
credit fraud:
- civil investigations
- criminal investigations
Civil investigations
The aim of a civil investigation is to get back any tax credits payments
that have been falsely claimed through fraud, along with any interest.
The Tax Credit Office will also charge a financial penalty. A civil
investigation does not prosecute.
If the Tax Credit Office charges someone a penalty, they can consider
reducing it if the person:
- realised they had made a mistake
- told the Tax Credit Office all the facts voluntarily, without being
prompted to do so - and before any check of their details had started
For example, a person could have realised their mistake after reading
a leaflet about tax credits, or information on the internet.
Tax
credit penalties
Criminal investigations
The Tax Credit Office tries to deal with tax credit fraud using civil
investigations whenever possible. They’ll only use criminal investigations
in very serious cases where:
- they want to send a strong message to stop other people from trying
the same thing
- the person has acted in a way that makes a criminal investigation
the only option
Serious cases include:
- organised tax credit fraud
- where false statements have been made
- where fake documents have been given to the Tax Credit Office
- where people claiming tax credit have hidden information from the
Tax Credit Office or misled them on purpose
- where someone's carried out the same type of offence before
- where there's proof that Tax Credit Office staff have been assaulted
or threatened
- where people have pretended to be their employees
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More useful links
Learn
more about reporting benefit theft on the Directgov website
More
about crime, justice and the law on the Directgov website
HM Revenue & Customs
criminal investigation policy
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