Single mum left to live off £90 a week by tax mistake

Sara Bradshaw, 31, from Darlington, got a letter from the Inland Revenue this week telling her that the tax office had overpaid her child tax credits throughout 2004 by more than £1,700 and her working tax credit by £485.

She will now have to repay the amount by receiving less money each week in tax credits.

But she says the sum she will be left with will not be enough to sustain her and her sons Adam, ten, and Anthony, seven.

"I was working as a home help and was receiving £89 a week in tax credits," she said.

"I assumed that was the right amount and so got a shock when I got this letter.

"I can't understand how I was overpaid at the start of the year as my circumstances did not change.

"They are leaving me with practically nothing to live on."

Ms Bradshaw, who gave up her £5.50-an-hour job as a home help last month, says her income will now be just over £90 a week, including child allowance payments.

"It's not enough and it's a constant worry," she said.

"With Christmas coming up, I just don't know what we are going to do.

"The boys have got a couple of little items that I managed to get while I was working.

"I have told them and they understand but they are just bairns.

"The eldest one said it doesn't matter but that just gives you a lump in your throat."

An Inland Revenue spokesman said he could not comment on individual cases.

But he said overpayments were sometimes made when people didn't let the department know about a change of circumstance.

Ms Bradshaw is insistent she has kept the tax office fully informed at all times.

"I let them know I was planning to leave my job before I left so it can't be that, and the letter says the overpayment was at the start of the year," she said. "I don't know where to turn."

The spokesman said: "All I can suggest is that she contacts her local tax office and tells them the situation.

"We are duty-bound to claim the money back but we will not leave anyone in hardship."