by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Tax officials have launched a crackdown on suspected tax credit cheats among the self-employed.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is targetting a group of claimants that number almost 18,000 across Kent.

HMRC teams have been examining tax credit awards being paid to the self-employed and are writing to any whose claims may not be genuine or accurate.

They are asked to contact the department and supply evidence to support their claims.

Some 675,000 tax credit awards (8.9 per cent) in 2008/09 had errors relating to income. The potential size of the loss is £145m.

Failure to tell HMRC promptly of any changes in income can result in overpayment, which means that claimants have to pay back the money.

They could also face a penalty and, in the case of deliberate fraud, criminal prosecution and imprisonment.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said: "HMRC is determined to take a tough approach to targeting possible fraud among tax credit claimants."

HMRC will use credit reference agencies and data-matching to spot patterns of fraud and is also taking on extra investigators.

Self-employed tax credit claimants for Kent/Medway: Countywide, 17,800; Medway, 2,600, Ashford, 1,500, Canterbury, 1,500; Dartford, 800; Dover, 1,200; Gravesham, 1,000; Maidstone, 1,600; Sevenoais, 1,100; Shepway, 1,100; Swale, 1,500, Thant, 1,700; Tonbridge and Malling, 1,100; Tunbridge Wells, 1,100.