Figures for the latest finalised awards show that out of a total of almost 5.7m tax credits, around a third of families were overpaid, including 353,000 lone parents.
Among the 713,000 families who were receiving less credits than they were due, three quarters of underpayments happened to those with incomes below 20,000.
Kate Green, chief executive at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), said: "Over half the overpayment errors made affected those in the lowest income group - people who will struggle to pay them back. This level of error is not good enough."
Paul Dornan, CPAG's policy officer, called for an advertising campaign to simplify the system to ensure families were clear about the circumstances in which they could be overpaid and the consequences of not alerting HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
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