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Aggressive stance taken by HMRC to collect unpaid taxes
Chartered accountancy firm, Watson Buckle, are warning their clients that an alarming aggressive stance is being taken by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to collect unpaid taxes.
The HMRC chiefs have been accused of acting like “thugs” due to the threatening nature of the letters sent to thousands of people among the ten million self-assessment taxpayers, including pensioners in the UK, who have failed to settle unpaid tax bills.
The Revenue’s aggressive stance in collecting unpaid taxes is part of a move designed to humiliate people into settling their late tax payments. Firstly, a letter is sent out which gives details as to how their possessions, such as laptops, cars, TVs, would be seized and auctioned off publicly for a fraction of their real value. The Revenue then begs the late taxpayer to pay up and that if they refuse, the Government will not have enough money to run our schools and hospitals.
It is illegal for debt collectors to go into a person’s home and seize their valuable goods without a court order. The Government’s strict rules for private debt collectors bans them from making idle threats. However, the Revenue is not covered by these rules because it is a Whitehall department.
The initiative has been denounced by MPs who claim the aggressive nature of the letters sent by the HMRC was “outrageous”.
Liberal Democrat MP John Thurso said: “This authoritarian and frightening language is unlikely to get anybody to co-operate – it will frighten the life out of them. It also risks politicising tax gathering by singling out some types of public spending over others.”
A HMRC spokesman said that the letters had helped to reduce unpaid taxes by nearly £6 billion in 18 months.
“We see nothing wrong with reminding people that taxes pay for public services. If someone doesn’t pay their taxes we all suffer. We all have rights as taxpayers but we also have responsibilities, one of which is to pay our taxes on time. It is a matter of fact that the largest chunk is spent on hospitals,” the HMRC spokesman said.
John Kinsella, tax partner at Watson Buckle, said: “It is alarming to hear of the threatening nature of these letters that people are receiving from the HMRC. For the older generation of self-assessment taxpayers, they would be particularly frightening.
“It is, of course, important for people to pay their tax on time but those who don’t will normally have a valid reason or are in great financial difficulty, and letters such as this would only cause further stress.
“In order to save yourself from being in this situation, at Watson Buckle we have a Tax Planning service which provides expert, professional advice, to achieve the best possible tax outcome.”
For more information, please contact John Kinsella at Watson Buckle on 01274 516700 or visit www.watsonbuckle.co.uk
