MPs report says tax credit system a failure
A report by MPs on the Public Accounts Select Committee sees no improvement in the way tax credits work
MPs fifth report since the tax credit system started in 2003 reveals almost
two million families a year are still being placed in debt by tax credit
overpayments.
HM
Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has established no targets to cut losses as a
result of fraud or errors. However, HMRC said recent changes had led to big
improvements, BBC News reports.
‘This report relies on data captured only up to 2006,’ an HMRC spokesman,
said. ‘Overpayments have fallen by a fifth and accuracy in processing payments
has reached 97%. HMRC’s security measures stopped the vast majority of
fraudulent claims before any money was paid out.’
Despite the repeated public commitments from government ministers to improve
matters, the MPs believe that there is very little evidence of things getting
better. ‘The tax credits situation is as serious as ever,’ Edward Leigh MP,
committee’s chairman, said. ‘HMRC’s attempts to bring the system under any
measure of control have so far not been crowned with conspicuous success.
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