450,000 hit in new tax fiasco
A NEW blunder has left nearly half a million people owing £180million in unpaid taxes – but officials have not explained the error.
Last year HM Revenue and Customs told about 1.4million people they would have to pay an additional average £1,500 after coding mistakes led to underpayments.
HMRC then said it would look to recover underpaid taxes from only the years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 but it has now decided to go back to 2007-2008.
New letters to 450,000 people, many of them pensioners, say they will be charged extra in 2011-2012 to make up for 2007-2008’s underpaid tax. In most cases there was no explanation.
The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group called the latest action “perverse” and urged people to challenge the letters.