HMRC has carried out a review of its powers to recover established tax debts directly from individuals’ bank and building society accounts, concluding that the policy has achieved its objectives in the period under review between April 2016 and December 2018.
‘Direct recovery of debts’ was introduced in November 2015 with the objective of collecting tax debts more effectively from those who have sufficient funds but repeatedly refuse to pay. The government announced at Budget 2014 that HMRC would provide Parliament with a full review after the policy had been operational for two years.
Additional tax revenue amounting to £178m was recovered during the period through use of these powers.
The review shows 22,667 cases were considered for action, with 20 deduction notices issued. Objections were received in eight cases, only one of which was upheld on grounds of hardship by the independent review team.
County Court action was taken in three cases. One of these resulted in HMRC revising its procedures by adding an extra three working days for the debtor to receive the letter and making contact by telephone once the extra three days are up to advise that deduction is about to take place.
HMRC has carried out a review of its powers to recover established tax debts directly from individuals’ bank and building society accounts, concluding that the policy has achieved its objectives in the period under review between April 2016 and December 2018.
‘Direct recovery of debts’ was introduced in November 2015 with the objective of collecting tax debts more effectively from those who have sufficient funds but repeatedly refuse to pay. The government announced at Budget 2014 that HMRC would provide Parliament with a full review after the policy had been operational for two years.
Additional tax revenue amounting to £178m was recovered during the period through use of these powers.
The review shows 22,667 cases were considered for action, with 20 deduction notices issued. Objections were received in eight cases, only one of which was upheld on grounds of hardship by the independent review team.
County Court action was taken in three cases. One of these resulted in HMRC revising its procedures by adding an extra three working days for the debtor to receive the letter and making contact by telephone once the extra three days are up to advise that deduction is about to take place.
