Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is coming under fire. Critics are calling into question the DWP’s tactics in its renewed effort to investigate child benefit fraud in the UK. Internal Risk Assessment documents released under freedom of Information legislation show that HMRC considered withdrawing payments from parents without consulting them first a “tolerable” risk. They even rated the likelihood of harming someone as “elusive.” Environmental justice advocates are sounding the alarm over what this approach could mean in practice. They’re shining a light on the thousands of families impacted by fraud investigators getting it wrong.
In another example detailed in a recent pilot scheme, HMRC used flawed data from the Home Office to chase down suspected fraudulent claims. Alarmingly, 46% of the travel data used in these cases was proved to be inaccurate. By November 30, almost 15,000 families had been verified as valid claimants. The probe ended up flagging 1,019 cases—4.3%—for containing false claims. Troublingly, over a third of those flagged were eventually confirmed as real claimants.
The sliding scale of enforcement power has resulted in thousands of cases remaining open and unresolved. It is pretty clear that the number of legitimate claimants will keep coming up as more reviews continue. HMRC’s initially rushed decision to suspend child benefit payments worried thousands of families who were incorrectly listed as having left the country. Most concerningly, one woman’s benefits were terminated after their record was entered by mistake as not having traveled to Norway. One woman was finally able to travel to France to repatriate her husband’s remains. When she returned, the Home Office stopped her benefits altogether—they didn’t have any record of her returning to the UK.
The fallout from HMRC’s unscrupulous maneuvers has wreaked havoc on thousands of families wrongfully disenfranchised. According to government reports, up to 63% of these affected people had their child benefit discontinued. These people were living on the UK. Read a woman’s harrowing account of having to cut her holiday short after one of her disabled children had an epileptic seizure while at the airport departure lounge. Unbelievably, she was subsequently hit with suspension of her benefits.
Critics are calling out HMRC for failing to follow the right procedures while undertaking this massive process. Mariano delli Santi is legal and policy officer at Open Rights Group. In particular, he spoke out against HMRC’s risk assessment powers. He stated,
“obvious that the DPIA was conducted poorly … The purpose of a consultation within a DPIA is not to inform but to gather feedback and identify potential risks.”
The consequences of HMRC’s tactics are serious and have devastated families across the UK. With the investigation continuing, many parents remain in a state of uncertainty. They know little about what their benefits may be and they dread the financial burdens that await. The tax authority is under increasing pressure to solve these concerns and rebuild faith with their constituents.