Much has already been said about the powers that HMRC is seeking to collect overdue tax debts directly from people’s bank accounts. The Budget Red Book says that HMRC will only use the powers where multiple attempts have been made to contact the taxpayer and that a minimum of £5,000 will be left in the taxpayer’s account.
Taking cash from a bank will happen silently without the alleged debtor’s knowledge and with no chance of stopping an error.
Because of this, the safeguards must be watertight but HMRC cannot guarantee with 100% certainty that errors will never happen.
Nobody wants people to avoid paying the tax they should rightfully pay. But is this is a step too far.
To read about the proposals see HMRC’s consultation document https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/direct-recovery-of-debts
