January - July 2007 News Archive
TCC Press Release 15 July 2007 Success as TCC Work for Flood Victims: To see a scanned image of this Press Release, click here.
The Guardian 12 July 2007 Tax Credit Fraud and Errors Top £9bn by David Hencke Gordon Brown's controversial tax credit scheme was called into question today as new figures showed the level of fraud and error topped £9bn. According to estimates released by the National Audit Office, claimants have defrauded the system of £3bn, while overpayments stand at £6.6bn since the scheme was introduced four years ago.
Edward Leigh, Conservative chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, described the disclosure as "staggering". "The reputation of HM Revenue and Customs for competence looks increasingly threadbare as revelations of this kind become public," he said. As a result, Sir John Bourn, the comptroller and auditor general, has qualified his opinion on Customs and Excise's accounts for an "unacceptably high level of fraud and error".
The report reveals that in the last tax year some 5.5 million families shared £18.7bn in tax credit payments but the level of fraud and error continued unabated. The report says that since 2003, overpayments arising from adjustments to awards came to £6n. Another £600m has also been discovered. At the end of March 2007, the department had collected £2bn and written off £0.7bn, while £3.9bn remained to be collected. It has also provided for £1.6bn for those debts where recovery is doubtful. In 2005 Revenue and Customs closed its claims website after it had been targeted by organised criminals.
The report found that this reduced levels of incorrect payments, but Revenue and Customs still found it made £40m in cases of suspected organised fraud. The closure also prevented £212m in payments where organised fraud was suspected during 2006-07. Revenue and Customs estimates of overall levels of claimant error and fraud found that between £1bn to £1.3bn was paid to claimants to which they were not entitled in 2004-05. According to the National Audit Office there is no evidence that these levels have fallen in subsequent years.
Mr Leigh said: "There are no winners here. To the tax payer it means a torrent of wasted money. To vulnerable families who have been overpaid, it means a future of almost certain hardship repaying debt to the government. "Revenue and Customs mistakes do not end here. The department turns out to have provided incorrect advice on the taxation of small pensions. The amount lost to the exchequer each year is running at £135m."
Liberal Democrat shadow work and pensions secretary, Danny Alexander, said: "The government's nonchalant response to these huge levels of fraud and error in the tax credits system is disgraceful.” As Gordon Brown has walked into Number 10 he has left behind a system in chaos. It is completely unacceptable that the levels of fraud and error continue to be nearly double that of any other benefit.
"With another £1bn lost in fraud and error in 2004/05, we are now well on course to see £9bn of taxpayers' money wasted through fraud, error and overpayment in the first three years of the schemes existence.” Unless there is radical and rapid reform to tax credits we will continue to have a system which is prone to error and wide open to abuse. The continuing waste is undermining the objectives of the benefits system and exposing a startling level of incompetence within the Treasury."
TCC Press Release 12 June 2007 TCC "Towers of Power" Tour: The (ivory) Towers of Power tour took place this week. TCC stormed London for what promised to be an enlightening and challenging chain of meetings. After months of haggling we finally met executives from HMRC (we had to foot the bill personally as they refused to help). We raised questions put forward by many members of TCC and provided a 'service users perspective' of Tax Credits.
Then we were off to catch up with a TCC supporter of old; David Laws; Lib Democrats Shadow Work and Pensions Minister; Penny Mordaunt, Conservative candidate for Portsmouth North; Conservative Councillor Alistair Thompson; and the Conservative Shadow Treasury Committee and dropped in on Number 10 to express our displeasure! To see a scanned image of this Press Release, click here.
TCC Press Release 9 June 2007 Tax Victims On Tour: To see a scanned image of this Press Release, click here.
Private Eye 10 May 2007 Don't Ask For Credits: To see a scanned image of this article, click here. | 
