NO2ID

I need some advice....

I am a natural born, white British citizen who is self employed in web marketing. I claim working tax credits and recently received a letter from HMRC on the 8th of March 2011 which requests I send them my passport, drivers license, birth certificate, TV license, bank statements, my unique tax payers reference number, phone bills..... and lots more stuff as well. Copies are not acceptable, I checked by phone. I have contacted the department that sent it and they say it is normal practice to ask for those documents and that they will be returned once they have processed them. They say they need the documents to validate my claim for WTC. There is also a form for me to sign which gives the claim investigator permission to check the documents and contact people listed in them.

I know this isn't a passport related question but it does relate to ID (I hope). My questions are this:

1, They should already have the information required to prove my identity and they will receive details of my income in my next tax return and claim renewal form so why do they need these documents?

2, Has anyone else received anything like this or does anyone else know someone who has?

I am legitimate and my claim is genuine - I've not hidden anything. I contacted the Working Tax Credits helpline directly to validate the authenticity of the letter received; and it's genuine. I have to send the requested documents before April 1st 2011. I suspect that if I do not send them then I will be further investigated. Anyway, does anyone have any advice that may help. I know the advice will not be official but all knowledge helps.

I'd like to know why they want such irrelevant documents such as TV licence, phone bill and driving licence. Having a TV, telephone or the ability to drive has nothing to do with tax credits. You might not have any of those anyway or a passport. Apart from that, they already have your employment details and references.

I suggest going to a Citizens Advice Bureau (before they're all closed down) and having a chat with them. This is an excessive amount of documentation to send anywhere in one pack.

All the documents they have asked me to send them are the same ones that I would need to prove my identity elsewhere. If I wanted to take a second job or should I need to open a new bank account, I wouldn't be able to without those documents. It puts me at their mercy. It is not as though they need it to prove where I live and if they were querying my identity then they would ask to interview me or they would give me a surprise visit.

I live with my parents and they also have their own business from the same premises. They might be trying to establish whether we live separately but here's the other strange bit - they've sent a similar letter to my parents requesting they provide passports and birth certificates for two of my younger brothers. I'm in my 30's, they are in their 20's; one of them hasn't lived here for at least 4 years; and they are not part of my parent's WTC claim (nor am I). I came to stay with my parents after returning from abroad a few years ago and was advised by the Inland Revenue to register as self employed when I asked how I should detail income earned through websites on my self cert.

My nearest CAB is 20 miles away. I'll contact them about it.

Thats highly suspicious. I've never heard of this. Did you phone the number on the letter? Look up the number in the phone book and ring that. Its not difficult to get some official looking letters printed up or scanned and altered via a computer. No way on Earth would I send that lot, originals too, by post. If it is genuine, I would insist on going to the nearest tax office in person and have them photocopy them and return them straight away.

Is this an "and" list or an "or" list? i.e. are they requiring all the items on the list, or giving you the choice of sending any one of them? Usually organisations give you the option of sending one item from List A (with photo) and one from List B (with address).

This is bollocks. I've never heard the like of it. I know these morons in HMRC have an insatiable appetite for data, but not to this extent. An apparent request for a TV licence of all things makes me smell a rat.

According to the FAQ at HMRC (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/things-go-wrong/complaints-appeals/enquiries.htm)

My guess is that they are requesting this information to do more than check your identity. Rather, it would seem to be associated with verifying entitlement to working tax credits (as you state in your post - - by assessing whether your outgoings reflect what you are claiming is coming in (the latter is used to determine working tax credits) e.g. if your claim is based on income of X but your outgoings suggest that you must be getting X+Y then the claim may be invalid. As I said this is a guess on my behalf.

I think you are within your rights, not least under the DPA, to understand from HMRC the purpose for which each piece of information is being requested e.g. is it for identity verification or entitlement checking.

And the TV licence?

I have no idea - as I said I am guessing why they are asking for the information. Perhaps it's another contributor to the outgoings calculation i.e. as a bill rather than as some form of identification?

If I was in the same position I would ask them why they needed it on the basis of the Data Protection Act (principle 2):

and 3

and possibly 6

They want them all and more. They are getting my recently expired passport, I can't find my new one

I verified it with the Working Tax Office number listed on my last claim form. I'm very suspicious whenever I receive surprise letters from official places.

The photographic documents they have requested can't properly verify my ID without my physical presence to match them against. It makes very little sense for them to ask for them unless they intend to hold on to them to prevent me from leaving the country. I see no reason for them wishing to do that.

FishNChipPapers, when I contacted them at the number on the letter I was told the person who had sent the letter was out of the office. When I asked about the documents I was told they were to be used to confirm my ID. That's impossible to do without my presence.

Whatever their reasons, the limited time given within which I'm to suply the information is atrocious. The letter is dated 3rd of March, I received it on the 8th of March and I have until 1st of April to supply the information. Took "five" days for their letter to reach me so assuming it will take five days to reach the sender's office, I have been given 18 days to gather and send the specified documents. If they do not receive them by April 1st, my claim will be stopped (according to their letter). I already have the documents ready to send but were I less well organised... I hope others in a similar situation are given more time.

Thank you for your help. The Data Protection Act information will be very useful.

I wonder if they will ask to see my emails and social networking messages next

If that were the case then the things they have requested are way over the top. You explained that you live with your parents in which case things like the TV license, phone bills and utility bills could, for all HMRC knows, be in their name rather than yours and so wouldn't help, beyond proving that you have been able to access documents which reference the address where you are claiming to reside.

In your original post you mentioned that they wanted the information to validate your WTC claim, which is clearly based on more than your identity. The information they have requested is also consistent with the information in their FAQ.

Given that they are demanding this information it is perhaps of little consequence whether they want it for identification/authentication or claim validation purposes.

It does seem there's more going on here, though, given they have also requested information from your parents as well.

I would definitely advocate contacting the CAB. I made an online enquiry to my local CAB and they were prompt and effective in their response so it might be worth pursuing that route to save you a 20 mile trip

I will contact CAB first thing tomorrow. I will keep everybody updated with how I get on.

My friend had to do this and HMRC found that she was underclaiming and gave her a few grand extra!

Whoops! Sorry, I forgot to update

I didn't take further advice. I opted to send a nice long letter with a full collection of accounts and a summary of my business. Sent neither my passport nor birth certificate (could locate neither). I received a reply soon after posting the letter. My claim was judged valid.

Thank you everybody for your help

That would have been nice

I was underpaid during one year but kept quiet on it. To be honest, I don't like claiming it. I do so because I need it but as soon as I can do without, I will...