Revenue forfeits £2m over complaints

The taxman was directed to forfeit more than £2 million in redress to aggrieved taxpayers during 2009/10.

Under instruction from the Adjudicator’s Office, HMRC gave up £1,887,921 in tax credit and general tax liabilities. The department also paid out £296,744 in costs and compensation relating to poor complaints handling and causing worry and distress.

According to the latest annual report from the adjudicator, Judy Clements, she and her staff received a total of 1,820 new complaints about the Revenue in the most recently completed tax year, with 1,743 being resolved.

The majority of the objections related to tax credits, which ‘continue to be significant proportion’ of the Adjudicator’s Office’s workload. However, general issues of taxation were cause for concern, with Ms Clements noting ‘a growth in cases where HMRC’s decision-making has had an adverse impact on vulnerable groups of people’, particularly pensioners.

The adjudicator also identified apprehension about handling of matters involving the application of extra-statutory concession A19 (ESC A19), which is currently a matter of some controversy following revelations of errors in the PAYE system.

Nevertheless, Ms Clements adds that ‘quality of the complaints handling on taxation cases is generally satisfactory, although I am expecting a sustained focus on quality improvement for the future.’

An in-depth review of the tax aspects of the Adjudicator’s Office report will appear in a near-future issue of Taxation.
 

Categories: News , Adjudicator’s Office , Judy Clements , tax credits , Admin