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The government does not plan to give itself powers to significantly alter the direct recovery of debts (DRD) rules by statutory instrument, Taxation has learned, following fears of a legal provision to enable the amendment of primary legislation.
The government does not plan to give itself powers to significantly alter the direct recovery of debts (DRD) rules by statutory instrument, Taxation has learned, following fears of a legal provision to enable the amendment of primary legislation.
The draft DRD regulations include a power to vary primary law by statutory instrument, which appeared to be a so-called Henry VIII clause that would allow tax officials to use secondary legislation to remove sections including the right of appeal to the county court.
But HMRC said amendments would have to be “ancillary to the DRD legislation” and “would not extend to restricting or repealing the appeal rights”.
Changes would instead future-proof the new provisions, the department added, citing as an example an increase statutory instrument of the £5,000 safeguarded funds limit should it became eroded over time.
The latest chapter in the DRD story follows the announcement in November of extra safeguards and additional time for consultation, following widespread protest by the tax industry about the proposed debt-handling powers.
