HMRC Errors Slammed By Report

Up to £2.8 billion in taxes are lost by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) each year, the Guardian reports.

The Treasury made the admission yesterday, following a very critical report from the parliamentary public accounts committee which had accused HMRC of not meeting "best business practice".

In the report, the tax body was criticised for not having a sufficiently user-friendly website, for lapses in its customer service and for "giving wrong information". It was also noted that HMRC had generated around 200,000 taxpayer complaints over two years.

The £2.8 billion was lost due to taxpayers providing the body with wrong information. While the money could be claimed back by HMRC, it is not cost-effective to do so.

Report co-author Doug Touhig, a Labour MP, termed the figure a "colossal amount". Shadow treasury minister David Gauke, speaking to the newspaper, said that the report "highlights" the "administrative failures" of HMRC.

"[These failures] are costing the exchequer serious sums of money, while in another part of the system, individual taxpayers lose out through the incompetent handling of the tax credits system," he added.

"Gordon Brown, the man who led HMRC for ten years, has to take responsibility for the mess he left behind."