Treasury committee chair slams HMRC
The chair of an influential Commons committee has said that HMRC is costing small businesses millions of pounds
THE FAILURE OF HM Revenue & Customs to deal with queries is costing individual small businesses millions of pounds, the chair of the Commons’ Treasury select committee has said.
Andrew Tyrie, Conservative MP for Chichester, said in a debate on HMRC in the Commons on 2 March that the “collateral damage” that failed investigations caused is “huge”. He said one businessman had lost £7m in the time and effort of challenging a five-year case that proved groundless.
“The stress involved in such an experience would have been crippling for many people,” he added. “It is not just that individual who has lost out but all those who depend on his business for their livelihood and all those who might have had jobs in it had it been able to concentrate on expansion rather than fending off HMRC.
“One case does not prove anything, but the sheer scale of complaints now pouring into MPs’ postbags suggests something.”
The committee has been hearing evidence on HMRC’s performance and is expected to report shortly.