Can the tax credit office do this? I can't find a power to do so in the regs but perhaps I've missed something. They have refused to accept an appeal in one of my collegues cases because "As there is no right of appeal this matter wil not be refered to an independant tribunal" (they have completely missed the point of the appeal) Does every appeal have to (eventually) go to a tribunal?

I think you'll find the letter you're reading is the one referred to in the singing caterpillar thread now hovering just below this one in the TC part of this discussion group.

They are probably saying 'overpayment recovery not entitlement so no appeal'.

I guess in theory you have to judicially review them to change this. they've said it, decided it, so it is done. The mind boggles.

I was always under the impression that a DM couldn't decide that a decision wasn't appealable but had to pass it to the Appeals Service for a chairman to decide. Did I dream this or does it just apply to Social Security benefits?

I think you're thinking of late appeals and misconceived appeals, where TAS has final say. This situation though is analogous to 'unappealable' decisions of the DWP such as who gets CB between warring parents and those things. I've never seen a decision on such a subject but I'll bet you they say you have no right of appeal.

No, I have seen such a decision - a deduction decision contained within a straight IS rate notification. Saying no appeal against amount of deduction but can appeal against IS rate. So the DWP do act as ostensible gatekeepers on that kind of decision.

As recovery of TC overpayment is not an appealable decision IR send out these letters in same way as DWP non-appealable decision. The trouble is it is not as straightforward to delineate when an appeal is about entitlement or overpayment recovery (or, at least, they don't find it easy) as it is for most DWP non-appealable decisions.

When I first saw TC OPs I wondered if recovery non-appeal rights was CIS/540/02 able, but that was on regs and TC OPs are section 28 of the TCA so presumably not as easy to challenge.

But in a way having only JR as a means of attack is a GOOD thing in this situation. This letter to me clearly shows the IR fettering its discretion in deciding no appeal rights, particularly if with the cases you have it is CLEARLY about entitlement and not about OP recovery.

So I think they are Article 6 able and given that in my experience they people concerned are single parents then probably article 8/article 14 able too.

I think these letters, awful though they are, misguided and badly written, are just so awful that they may offer a real route into fundamentally challenging the basis of OP lack of appeal rights.

If there are lots of them coming out a class action could be brought which is much less easy to repel than individual cases who can be paid off.

One for the PLP / Liberty methinks.