Abacus Daily Debt News

Debtors hindered by HMRC?

Those in debt may be having their problems exacerbated by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), as it has been claimed that millions of pounds are being unlawfully held by the organisation.

Director of tax policy with the Chartered Institute of Taxation John Whiting commented on the new guidance note that has been issued to inspectors stating that money can be held without the opening of formal inquiries.

This, he was quoted by the news source as saying, is "contributing to increasing delays in income tax repayments for increasing numbers of people".

And tax partner at Grant Thornton Mike Warburton remarked: "If [HMRC] wants, willy-nilly, to hang on to people’s money, it should ask Parliament to change the law."

A spokesman for HMRC noted that this new form offers tax supervisors a middle road to take and is not illegal.

This is not the only bad news to hit indebted Britons in recent times. It emerged this week that the Office of Fair Trading is preparing to abandon its court case regarding unauthorised bank charges, Sky News reported.

By Sarah Adie