Welfare Tax Credits
(asked on 27th January 2015) - View Source
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total sum of administrative penalties applied to tax credit claimants following overpayments in each of the past four years.
The following table outlines the sum of penalties applied to tax credits claimants in each of the past four years.
Penalties applied in period | Sum of civil penalties applied |
2013-14 | £28,181,587.50 |
2012-13 | £13,128,383.00 |
2011-12 | £4,599,135.86 |
2010-11 | £1,196,988.00 |
An integral part of the tax credits error and fraud strategy was to ensure that claimants who negligently or deliberately sought to mislead HMRC about their circumstances would be dealt with appropriately. This led to a review of the penalty regime, which resulted in a large scale levying of penalties. This was consistent with the principles contained in the Welfare Reform Act 2012, in particular with the approach to issue tougher penalties for the most serious offences.