RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
| Subject: UK Taxman 'can't be trusted' with power to raid accounts Tue Jul 08, 2014 5:03 am | |
| The taxman cannot be trusted to enact ‘excessive’ new money-grabbing powers properly, accountants have warned.
They say Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is ‘a pretty dysfunctional department’, and allowing it to seize money from bank accounts could lead to an erosion of trust.
In a savage assessment of the controversial proposals to recoup unpaid tax bills, the majority of accountants said the powers are unnecessary – and the HMRC is not fit to oversee them.
The warning comes as MPs today grill the department’s chief executive Lin Homer about the proposals, which were announced in the Budget in March.
Under the plan – currently subject to a public consultation which ends on July 29 – HMRC wants the right to be able to take money directly from bank accounts.
If it believes taxpayers owe money, it can take the cash directly from a current account, joint account or even tax-free Isa to settle an unpaid tax bill.
One of the biggest concerns is that HMRC will not need to apply to the courts to get permission to seize the money.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2684033/Taxman-trusted-power-raid-accounts-Dysfunctional-department-fire-bid-money-directly-bank-accounts.html |
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