Oct
9
Tax Credits “Harsh and Unfair”
October 9, 2007 |
The BBC is carrying a story today about the tax credit system.
The tax credit system is “unfair” to some of the UK’s poorest families, the Parliamentary Ombudsman has said.
As a result of the “harsh” way HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) recovers overpayments 363,000 families are being pushed into debt, Ann Abraham added. She called for a more sophisticated way of dealing with the problem that would not leave people at risk of hardship. HMRC added it was looking at changes to its service that would improve the lot of its customers.
As a tax practitioner I have always declined to get involved in tax credit claims other than to provide the claimant with the information necessary for the claim and with good reason. Every one of my clients, without exception, who has ever made a claim has regretted it. In one case, my client had a serious accident that left him hospitalised for several months with no income coming into the family. They made a claim, were awarded payments and then a year later received a demand for all of it back. To this day they do not understand why.
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Gordon Brown has been noticeably quiet on the Tax Credit debarcle…
If this is his “flagship” policy then one has to wonder, what state is the rest of the fleet in?