HMRC were once again slated for their poor performance in answering calls to the public and the recent legislation which will allow HMRC to take any money that they THINK they are due directly from your bank account.
The MP’s on the Public Accounts Committee, gave HMRC officials a hard time with comments such as:
George Mudie, a Labour MP, said they were being “complacent and smug” about HMRC not answering one in five calls to its call centers. He said: “One in five calls unanswered… that’s old people and worried people who are trying to get through. And every year you dismiss it. When the hell are you going to get to the 93[%] industry standard. And if you don’t get to [this target when are you going to] put some resignations on the table?”John Thurso, a Liberal Democrat MP, said the proposal to take tax debts from the bank accounts of an estimated 17,000 people went against the principle of the Magna Carta, a document in 1215, which aimed to protect citizens’ rights from the king.
The problem with giving HMRC further wide-ranging sweeping powers is that they are more likely to get your tax bill wrong than you are. People need safeguards to ensure they are not left out of pocket by HMRC’s errors, or indeed their inability to answer your calls which may have sorted out the problem.
HMRC need to get their own house in order before wielding any big sticks at the taxpayer.
Get advice if you are having issues with HMRC.
Read the whole story on the accounting web:
AccountingWEB article