In proposed changes HMRC have been given increased powers to take back the tax money they are owed – directly from your salary.
Currently the limit that can be reclaimed is £3000 per tax year but this is set to change next April to £17,000. The amount they can take back will depend on your salary and will increase the more you earn. The £3,000 limit will remain for those earning less than £30,000, but will rise to the new £17,000 ceiling for tax payers earning £90,000 or more.
This is an additional power to the earlier announced right to take tax owed from your bank or building society account, joint accounts and even ISA’s.
The payments will be normally spread over a 12 months period and not taken back all at once.
Yesterday Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, said: ‘This is another creeping of HMRC’s powers, which are skewed in favour of themselves and away from the taxpayers. HMRC is becoming a more confrontational and all-powerful organisation.’
An HMRC spokesman said: ‘Taxpayers welcome the option to have tax debt collected by instalments. This is a long-standing feature of the payroll system and the increase in the threshold will allow more tax debts to be paid in this way.’
HMRC will be targeting people who owe £1000 or more and who they have contacted at least four times.
