MPs criticise HMRC plan to raid bank accounts

Cross-party committee concerned taxman could act as ‘judge and jury’

HM Revenue and Customs in Westminster
(Image credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

A powerful group of MPs has criticised a new plan to allow the UK tax authority to take money directly from millions of people’s bank accounts.

Chancellor George Osborne laid out plans for the scheme in the Budget, granting new confiscatory powers to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to recover debt from anyone who owes more than £1,000. This would allow the tax authority to seize money directly from debtors’ accounts, The Independent reports.

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