TRS and Lone parents Tax credit

[loneparent]

Hi I hope this is the right place for this I have an issue at the minute I need some advice on. I got a letter from the compliance department of the revenue office saying that I had to prove I was still entitled to the lone parent’s tax credit. I live on my own with my daughter my ex moved out in 2005. So the answer to this is yes I am. I did a bit of searching on line and have seen quite a few mentions about TRS and lone parents and principal residence my ex and I have a joint mortgage and we both Claim TRS.
So here are the facts.
I claim lone parents tax credit (no social welfare) I do not live with any partner
My ex and I have a joint mortgage
We both claim TRS
I pay the full mortgage
My ex claims social welfare and lives at another address when he originally moved out he did contribute to the mortgage but is not currently in the position to do this.
I have this form at home I have to fill in to declare I am entitled to lone parent’s allowance.
My ex hasn’t got anything correspondence about the TRS yet.
I have seen on line some references to this principal residence declaration on the TRS form and how you can’t claim lone parent’s tax credit and TRS with a joint mortgage. I really didn’t know that this is the case. I thought that as he was paying the mortgage for where his child lives he was entitled to tax relief for it and I thought I was entitled to lone parent’s tax credit. Neither of us was trying to defraud the system in any way. Our circumstances are as we told the revenue.
Does anyone have any experience of this and what I should do now? I am really worried that it will be one of two options I have to pay back the lone parents tax credit and the tax I would have paid had I been in the single persons tax bands or my ex will have to pay back The TRS . Either way both are massive bills 9000 or more and could result in me losing my home.

 

[mandelbrot]

You don't have any problem really.

At worst, your ex has claimed TRS he wasn't entitled to, but that would be a matter between himself and Revenue... of course if they cut off his TRS it will mean an increased mortgage repayment for you, but you must be nearly finished with TRS by now anyway based on the timeline you outlined.

In any case, they have only asked you about your entitlement to the Lone parent tax credit, so that's all you need to answer them on (or did the correspondence from Revenue mention joint mortgage / TRS?) - it is unlikely your ex will come under any scrutiny as he is not working and therefore not claiming the credit...