'Jury out' on HMRC cuts
Slashing the HMRC budget could hurt the most vulnerable, warns tax experts
Experts concerned with the taxing of those low incomes have said the jury
remains out on George Osborne’s proposals to cut HMRC’s budget.
The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) was speaking after the chancellor
said cuts to the taxman would come while protecting the most vulnerable.
The reform group immediately warned that cuts to services could hit the least
well off. A statement issued yesterday said: “The cuts to HMRC’s budget could
mean the end of services which the more vulnerable of HMRC’s customers can
scarcely afford to do without.”
There are conerns that the cuts will mean more centralisation through IT and
the increasing use of a one-size-fits-all approach.
John Andrews, chairman of the LITRG, said:”We believe that the linking of
error and fraud is unhelpful and will inevitably portray vulnerable people who
make errors as blameworthy. Setting over-optimistic targets may put the
unrepresented at a disadvantage if they are not aware of either the law or their
rights.’
Read more:
Spending
review: HMRC strikes inevitable
Spending
review: HMRC faces 15% budget cut
Spending
review: £100m to clear PAYE backlog