Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the policy of HM Revenue and Customs is on using debt collection agencies to retrieve outstanding tax payments from (a) individuals and (b) businesses.

As an integral part of its overall debt policy, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) uses private sector debt collection agencies as additional resource capacity, to extend the reach of its debt recovery activities (currently around 3% of all collection activity), particularly in relation to high volume, low value, debts. This ensures that all debts are kept in active recovery, and releases HMRC staff to focus on higher value more complex cases.