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Incompetent taxman bullies the innocent, MPs complain
Originally posted by 5corpio
The taxman is threatening entirely innocent householders in a show of incompetence that could undermine the whole taxation system, MPs have warned. A damning report from the Treasury Select Committee said that HMRC had sent letters suggesting that taxpayers’ possessions could be seized and sold to pay their tax debts, and that this had been “completely inappropriate” in some cases.
“These letters appear to have been widely used without sufficent thought to whom they were sent to, even being sent to people who did not actually owe money,” the report said. “We recommend that HMRC take steps to ensure such hard-hitting correspondence is used in a more proportionate way.”
Some of these letters stated that payment was needed “to fund the schools and hospitals we all rely on” and added that they would recover the debt “by taking your possessions and auctioning them publicly”. Small business owners who owed no tax were told that their outstanding debts had been transferred to the HMRC’s debt collection department “to list your goods so that they may be sold at public auction”.
A spokesman for HMRC, which has been plagued with problems in recent years, said that it had been sending letters to people who owed tax “since the Napoleonic wars”.
Read more on this story: Incompetent taxman bullies the innocent, MPs complain - Telegraph
“These letters appear to have been widely used without sufficent thought to whom they were sent to, even being sent to people who did not actually owe money,” the report said. “We recommend that HMRC take steps to ensure such hard-hitting correspondence is used in a more proportionate way.”
Some of these letters stated that payment was needed “to fund the schools and hospitals we all rely on” and added that they would recover the debt “by taking your possessions and auctioning them publicly”. Small business owners who owed no tax were told that their outstanding debts had been transferred to the HMRC’s debt collection department “to list your goods so that they may be sold at public auction”.
A spokesman for HMRC, which has been plagued with problems in recent years, said that it had been sending letters to people who owed tax “since the Napoleonic wars”.
Read more on this story: Incompetent taxman bullies the innocent, MPs complain - Telegraph
Tax chiefs have apologised to customers for poor performance and huge delays following a damning report by MPs.
Mike Clasper, chairman of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), said sorry to taxpayers after the Commons Treasury committee uncovered a raft of problems with the service. They included phone calls going unanswered at peak times and "endemic" delays in answering letters.
He told BBC Radio 5 live: "It simply wasn't good enough on post and telephone and I'd like to take the opportunity to apologise to the people who had to take a long time to get through, or we didn't get back to them quick enough with the......Tax boss says sorry for poor performance - Telegraph