Mary Aiston, HMRC’s director of counter-avoidance, has defended enforcement tactics utilised by the Revenue, telling a House of Lords committee that it has acted “in the most sensitive way” when handling tax debts. This came after a Times investigation uncovered examples of aggressive tactics, with people struggling due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic threatened with repossessions and accused of “deliberately” choosing not to repay tax debts.
Asked about the reports by peers, Ms Aiston said the Revenue had “pulled back from a huge amount of our debt collection” early in the pandemic before restarting it “in as sensitive and data-led way as we can”. She added that the fact a “very, very high percentage” of payment terms are successful shows HMRC does “take a lot of care to reflect people’s p ersonal circumstances and the sensitivity of being in tax debt”.
Read more: City AM
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