Finance Bill
Debate between Richard Fuller and Paul HolmesMonday 28th November 2022
(1 year, 12 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Finance Act 2023 View all Finance Act 2023 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: Notices of Amendments as at 28 November 2022 - (28 Nov 2022)
James Cartlidge
I have already given way to both my hon. Friends, but I will go to Bedfordshire.
Loan Charge 2019: Sir Amyas Morse Review
Debate between Richard Fuller and Paul Holmes(4 years, 8 months ago)
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Paul Holmes
My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. His point backs up mine. Any team that the Treasury sets up—and there should be one—to deal with people affected by the issue should treat them as people, not as numbers, which is unfortunately how HMRC has a track record of treating them.
Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)
My hon. Friend puts his finger on one of the core points. Who is running the show here? Is it HMRC, or are the Government making sure that law on this matter is paramount? Does he not find it ironic that HMRC’s annual report this year says that HMRC wants a system that can
“be trusted and seen to be fair, with the right safeguards in place to protect customers”?
Does this case not show that it is falling woefully short of meeting that ambition?
Paul Holmes
I agree entirely. This is not the only case of people being treated unfairly by HMRC. I really hope that the Minister listens to the concerns being expressed across the House, particularly about the issue under discussion. There is a wider point here about HMRC. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden said, it has decided to charge people retrospectively although the situation arose through its negligence. Never again—I feel this strongly—should it be allowed to adopt retrospective measures to cover its failure to get its policies in order.
Lastly, the Minister needs to make it clear, hopefully today, that the people affected by this are victims. They are struggling after following advice given to them by independent tax experts. I hope that he will look at lengthening the repayment period, commit to dealing fairly with the people affected by this, and never allow this to happen again. Ideally, he should at the Dispatch Box this afternoon scrap the loan charges affecting so many of my constituents.