Tag: Ian Lavery

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average cost is of recovery of £1 of debt by HM Revenue and Customs debt management staff.

Mr David Gauke

HMRC collects about £475 billion of tax revenue every year. 90% of this is collected by the due date; just 10% of it becomes overdue and a debt that HMRC has to recover/enforce.

It would be misleading to attribute the effect of enforcing tax that is not paid on time outside the context of collecting tax that is collected on time.

Accordingly, we do not routinely measure the ‘average’ cost of collecting £1 of debt.

HMRC uses a number of different methods to recover outstanding debts ranging from automated processes to more targeted enforcement tools as well as partnering initiatives with private sector companies. The application of specific interventions depends on a number of factors including customer behaviour, the economic climate, and our overall approach to maintaining the health of the tax system and tackling non-compliance.

In 2011 HMRC published the results of an international benchmarking study which compares HMRC’s operational performance to nine other international tax administrations. Results from this study showed HMRC had the lowest cost of all ten countries.

Over the long term 99% of taxes due are collected with only 1% being lost to the Exchequer, almost all of which is due to insolvency.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the staffing levels at HM Revenue and Customs debt management collectors were in (a) debt management telephony centres, (b) field force, (c) debt collection intervention teams, (d) debt technical offices and (e) late stage intervention in each of the last three years.

Mr David Gauke

Staff numbers fluctuate throughout the year but the following numbers of staff were in post at 31 March for each of the last three years:

	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14
DMTC/DCIT	1,276	1,194	1,336
Field Force	631	601	531
DTO	1,012	1,223	1,113
LAST		242	277
Total	2,919	3,260	3,257

· HMRC uses an appropriate mix of interventions to recover outstanding debt based on assessments of previous behaviour, [credit] risk and likely ability to pay. The allocation of various activities to specific debts is not mutually exclusive – some debtors may experience multiple contacts if they do not respond to initial attempts at recovery.

· The table below shows the overall annual amounts of debts which HMRC has pursued and cleared in recent years.

£billion	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14
Total Debt processed	51	53	47	59

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average annual (a) cost of employing HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) debt management collectors and (b) value of interventions undertaken by individual HMRC debt management collectors are in (i) debt management telephony centres, (ii) field force, (iii) debt collection intervention teams, (iv) debt technical offices and (v) late stage intervention.

Mr David Gauke

Staff numbers fluctuate throughout the year but the following numbers of staff were in post at 31 March for each of the last three years:

	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14
DMTC/DCIT	1,276	1,194	1,336
Field Force	631	601	531
DTO	1,012	1,223	1,113
LAST		242	277
Total	2,919	3,260	3,257

· HMRC uses an appropriate mix of interventions to recover outstanding debt based on assessments of previous behaviour, [credit] risk and likely ability to pay. The allocation of various activities to specific debts is not mutually exclusive – some debtors may experience multiple contacts if they do not respond to initial attempts at recovery.

· The table below shows the overall annual amounts of debts which HMRC has pursued and cleared in recent years.

£billion	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14
Total Debt processed	51	53	47	59

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if HM Revenue and Customs will share the evaluation of the Tax Credit Error and Fraud Adding Capacity trial with recognised trade unions.

Nicky Morgan

From April to July 2013, HMRC carried out a trial to test whether it would be feasible to increase the number of compliance checks on tax credits claims, through the use of private sector resource. HMRC will publish the evaluation of the trial and the customer research report in due course.

It is not appropriate to place the business case in the public domain given the commercial sensitivities and the risk of prejudice to HMRC’s ability to tackle tax credits error and fraud.

In terms of the external costs of the trial, I refer the Hon Member to the Thirty-Fourth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts [2013/14] into HMRC Tax Collection: Annual Report & Accounts 2012–13, which may be found at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmpubacc/666/66602.htm. All internal HMRC operating costs are published annually in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been spent by HM Revenue and Customs on preparatory work for the outsourcing of Tax Credit Error and Fraud Adding Capacity to date.

Nicky Morgan

From April to July 2013, HMRC carried out a trial to test whether it would be feasible to increase the number of compliance checks on tax credits claims, through the use of private sector resource. HMRC will publish the evaluation of the trial and the customer research report in due course.

It is not appropriate to place the business case in the public domain given the commercial sensitivities and the risk of prejudice to HMRC’s ability to tackle tax credits error and fraud.

In terms of the external costs of the trial, I refer the Hon Member to the Thirty-Fourth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts [2013/14] into HMRC Tax Collection: Annual Report & Accounts 2012–13, which may be found at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmpubacc/666/66602.htm. All internal HMRC operating costs are published annually in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Tax Credit Error and Fraud Adding Capacity trial involving the private company Transactis in 2013.

Nicky Morgan

From April to July 2013, HMRC carried out a trial to test whether it would be feasible to increase the number of compliance checks on tax credits claims, through the use of private sector resource. HMRC will publish the evaluation of the trial and the customer research report in due course.

It is not appropriate to place the business case in the public domain given the commercial sensitivities and the risk of prejudice to HMRC’s ability to tackle tax credits error and fraud.

In terms of the external costs of the trial, I refer the Hon Member to the Thirty-Fourth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts [2013/14] into HMRC Tax Collection: Annual Report & Accounts 2012–13, which may be found at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmpubacc/666/66602.htm. All internal HMRC operating costs are published annually in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lavery on 2014-04-29.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library a copy of the business case for the outsourcing of compliance checks on tax credits claims.

Nicky Morgan

From April to July 2013, HMRC carried out a trial to test whether it would be feasible to increase the number of compliance checks on tax credits claims, through the use of private sector resource. HMRC will publish the evaluation of the trial and the customer research report in due course.

It is not appropriate to place the business case in the public domain given the commercial sensitivities and the risk of prejudice to HMRC’s ability to tackle tax credits error and fraud.

In terms of the external costs of the trial, I refer the Hon Member to the Thirty-Fourth Report of the Committee of Public Accounts [2013/14] into HMRC Tax Collection: Annual Report & Accounts 2012–13, which may be found at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmpubacc/666/66602.htm. All internal HMRC operating costs are published annually in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts.

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