"The controversy began after HMRC suspended almost 24,000 child benefit accounts between July and October. Parents received letters referring to overseas holidays sometimes dating back as far as three years for which the Home Office had no record of a return journey. By 30 November, almost 15,000 of those families had been confirmed as legitimate claimants, while only 1,019 (4.3%) were found to involve incorrect claims, prompting widespread criticism over HMRC's use of incomplete Home Office data."
"Documents released under freedom of information laws show HMRC recognised a risk that Home Office data would wrongly flag families as having emigrated, but deemed that risk remote and tolerable. This was despite evidence from a pilot scheme showing travel data was wrong in 46% of cases. Of those investigated for suspected fraud during the pilot, more than a third were ultimately found to be legitimate claimants."
HMRC suspended almost 24,000 child benefit accounts between July and October after matching claims to incomplete Home Office travel records. At least 63% of those halted were still living in the UK, and by 30 November almost 15,000 families had been confirmed as legitimate claimants while 1,019 (4.3%) involved incorrect claims. Internal documents show HMRC judged the risk of wrongly flagging emigrants as remote and tolerable despite a pilot where travel data was wrong in 46% of cases and more than a third of investigated claimants were legitimate. Checks against PAYE records were removed during rollout, contributing to errors. Thousands of cases remain unresolved and inquiries are planned.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]