They have pursued families struggling to pay tax bills during the pandemic. But debt collection firms hired by the Revenue and local councils include some that have owners based in tax havens. Another of the companies is owned by a family that ran a notorious payday loan firm, leading to questions over the judgment of those who have hired them.
The findings come after The Times revealed yesterday that HM Revenue and Customs has sent letters to families during the pandemic accusing them of “deliberately” choosing not to repay debts and threatening to “take things you own and sell them”.
The department also uses private debt collection firms and has passed on 4.5 million personal records to them since 2014 without taxpayers’ specific consent.
Tax
