For almost a decade banks have been mandated to report savers' interest directly to HMRC so that the tax authority could calculate the tax that was owed and retrieve it through amending individuals' tax codes. Thanks to an investigation by The Daily Telegraph, it now transpires that mistakes are being made both in the reporting and tax calculations meaning that some savers are paying too high levels of tax.
Richard Fuller MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury said:
People place their trust in public sector organisations and it is not good enough that these sort of errors are being made, many of which could easily go unnoticed.
The government needs to intervene to clear up this mess and ensure the process is fit for purpose going forward.
The Daily Telegraph can be read at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/tax/income/savers-forced-to-overpay-thousands-in-tax-after-hmrc-errors/
