You Owe Us Money And We Are Taking It - HMRC
In a move which is sure to inflame feelings of “big brother “ is in control, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have announced plans to seek permission to freeze any bank accounts, where they believe that the owner has unpaid taxes. While the authorities stress that these powers will only be used in extreme cases, there is sure to be a major public backlash.
Figures show that some 200,000 non payers are taken through the courts by HMRC each year, at a massive cost to the tax payer. Under the new regulations there would be no need for a court case, where the authorities can “prove†that money is due. They would simply use the new powers (if they are agreed) to freeze bank accounts until the dispute is sorted.
This comes at the same time as news that some 1 million plus UK tax payers were over charged in 2006, to the tune of over £200 million. While the timing of this report could not have been worse for the authorities, it seems that they have every chance of pushing through the new controls they are seeking.
It appears that HMRC may soon be taking the roles of judge, juror and prosecutor with many citing the fact that the legal basis of innocent until proven guilty is also set to disappear in such circumstances. Even though the authorities insist that there would still be a heavily regulated process before actioning any new powers, there are still major concerns from a number of parties.
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