Monday, October 31, 2005

Too tough and not too tough?

Life is becoming 'tougher' for unemployed single parents. They will now have to attend a compulsory job interview every quarter or they risk losing 20% of their income support.

Why don't they risk losing it all?

Meanwhile, no such interviews are apparently required for claiming tax credits making them an easy target for organised crime.

"The department have evidence that tax credits have been targeted by organised criminals, particularly where they can make claims over the internet without providing identity" - National Audit Office.

Why is the Inland Revenue's current policy to pay out tax credits and ask questions later? "More than 80% of investigations into possible fraud or error were carried out after an award had been made because "information on some risks was not available at (the pre-award) stage"".

All necessary information should be available before any award is made.

2 comments:

wonkotsane said...

I get tax credits because I get paid a pittance working for the Inland Revenue (indirectly). They've messed mine up every single year since they started without fail. They managed to over pay me £500 last year despite having my earnings calculated correctly almost to the penny.

Snafu said...

Wonko, Wouldn't it have been better to increase the personal tax allowance for everyone for £600? The administrative costs would have been negligible.