HMRC hounding separated couples for tax credits say Tories
Tories blast HM Revenue & Customs for pursuing repayments from 350,000 people who have been through divorce or separation
The Tories have accused HM Revenue & Customs of making the misery of
family breakdown worse by pursuing separated couples for unpaid tax.
Figures obtained by the Conservatives reveal that HM Revenue & Customs is
seeking to reclaim
tax credit
payments from 350,000 people who have gone through divorce or separation.
Separated
couples are jointly liable for overpayments and HMRC have been given the
power to pursue repayment from whichever party they choose. This often leaves
the most vulnerable party picking up the bill, and compounds the trauma of
family breakdown.
Shadow paymaster general,
Mark Francois said: ‘I
have seen many cases where single parents have been left not only holding the
baby but also the deserted partner’s debts – and now their tax credits
liabilities as well. This problem is symptomatic of Gordon Brown’s
overcomplicated tax credits system.
‘Yet again Gordon Brown’s clunking fist is landing a blow on the most
vulnerable in society.’
Further reading:
Tories plot marriage tax benefits
Reformed tax credit system to cost HMRC
£2.5bn
Tax credit fraud raids carried out in
Scotland