Finance (No. 3) Bill

Liz Twist Excerpts

3rd reading: House of Commons & Report stage: House of Commons
Tuesday 8th January 2019 Commons Chamber

Let me now say something about new clause 26, tabled by the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Sir Edward Davey). When it comes to collecting taxes from individuals, the Treasury, via HMRC, has been brutal in its demands from contractors who have been paid through loans. I should make it clear that I have no time for tax dodgers and tax avoiders, and that I believe the disguised remuneration scheme was used by some people colluding with businesses to avoid paying tax. That is wrong and tax avoidance should be dealt with severely. However, I have met a number of people at my local surgeries and heard their stories of being mercilessly pursued for alleged unpaid taxes going back many years, and it is clear to me that HMRC has adopted a “shoot first and ask questions later” approach.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the stories we hear from our constituents suggest that some of them are not only afraid of losing their homes and livelihoods, but are actually having suicidal thoughts because of the pressure that is being put on them to pay the money?

[Bambos Charalambous]

That is an excellent point, which I was about to make myself. While the large accountancy firms have gone unpunished for creating tax avoidance schemes for big banks, those individual contractors are bearing the brunt of HMRC’s powers. I have been informed by the Loan Charge Action Group of suicides, bankruptcies and relationship breakdowns as a result of the stress involved in their dealings with HMRC. The group has said that many of the people being pursued by HMRC unwittingly signed up to loan-based schemes, but the promoters of the tax avoidance vehicles have not been targeted.

I ask the Minister to reconsider these measures and to ensure that people are not punished when they should not be.