As news of HMRC employing debt collection agencies to recoup more tax money spreads, widespread condemnation rises.
As well as the debt collectors, HMRC has also been knocked for targeting vulnerable members of society in a bid to extract as much tax revenue as they possibly can.
Since the main reason for such an aggressive campaign is the necessity to reduce national deficit, it seems outlandish that the government would spend so much money (£70 million) on the debt collectors. These tactics are being viewed as immoral and unethical. Many argue that haranguing pensioners for unpaid tax out of the blue could certainly have adverse affects on their health, especially as the errors that led to the impromptu taxes spun out of an internal error committed by HMRC themselves.
Now, experts around the UK are uniting to deride these methods. Tony Hazell, editor of Money Mail, told thisismoney.com: “Can we really trust the HMRC, which has made so many blunders, to pass correct details to debt collectors? Debt collecting firms can be particularly nasty organisations to deal with. It is no exaggeration to suggest that the shocking tax bills received by some pensioners could seriously damage their health. And now, using its obviously flawed records, HMRC is planning to set debt collectors on the general public.”