"The UK tax office took a "cavalier" approach to child benefit checks when it decided to strip payments from thousands of claimants after wrongly assuming they had permanently relocated out of the UK, a group of MPs have said. Payments stopped when HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) ceased cross-checking travel records with claimants' tax data to prove they were in the UK."
"Writing to the Treasury Select Committee, Mr Marks said by the end of October, about 15% or more than 3,600 of the 23,794 claimants who were flagged as potentially ineligible due to their travel history, were confirmed to still qualify for child benefit. In September, HMRC began a crackdown on child benefit fraud which it believes could save 350m over the next five years."
"HMRC boss John-Paul Marks apologised and said several changes had been made to improve the process including reinstating employment checks."
HM Revenue & Customs halted cross-checking of travel records against tax data, leading to the wrongful suspension of child benefit payments for thousands of claimants wrongly assumed to have permanently left the UK. MPs described the removal of checks as a "cavalier" and "costly" error. HMRC apologised, reinstated employment checks and reported that by the end of October about 15% (more than 3,600) of 23,794 flagged claimants were still eligible. The pilot used Home Office departure data and PAYE information but dropped additional checks to streamline processes. Child benefit covers 6.9 million families and ends after eight weeks abroad.
Read at www.bbc.com
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