Clearview Midlands September 2014 - Issue 154 | Page 100

businessNEWS

HMRC BANK RAID ‘SMASH AND GRAB’
POWERS RISK BEING ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL,’
SAY ACCOUNTANTS
HMRC’s attempts to extend its
powers to allow it to raid money
from people’s bank accounts risk
being unconstitutional, says global
accountancy body ACCA (the
Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants).
ACCA says that the prospect of HMRC
coaxing MPs to enact provisions which
effectively bypass the courts, that currently
protect the public, is deeply concerning.

Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of
taxation at ACCA, said: “These new
powers are knocking at the door of being
unconstitutional. The existing safeguards
in recovery of tax debts protect taxpayers
by ensuring the activities of HMRC are
subject to review by the courts prior to
enforcement. HMRC’s proposed powers
effectively throw that principle out the
window. It will mean HMRC can take a
‘smash and grab’ approach by delving into

someone’s bank account at will and taking
their money.
“You can’t blame HMRC for looking at
more economical options if the full cost of
securing a county court judgment under
the current system is too great. If we are
going to have these powers imposed, then
some other form of review by an officer of
the court should be considered as a part of
the safeguards in any power to access bank
accounts.”

GDP FIGURES – EXPERT COMMENT
Despite the economy regaining its precrises peak, the preliminary GDP figures
and Q2 data are described as “a touch
disappointing” by the EY ITEM Club.
John Bulford, economic advisor to the Club,
commented:

‘This recovery has legs’
“The economy appears, at first glance, well
on the road to recovery. But any euphoria
can be quickly dampened by putting it into a
wider context. Several of our peers’ economies
– most notably the US and Germany – have
long regained their pre-crisis peaks. This is

the first post-war economic cycle that sees the
UK economy take as long to return to form,
and GDP per capita is still well short of 2008
levels.
“The disparity between official figures,
which show manufacturing output growing
by just 0.2% and construction contracting by
0.5%, and business survey data, which show
both sectors roaring ahead, is glaring. With
that in mind, it would not be a surprise to see
the Q2 figures revised up in the next release.”
Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte said:
“The UK economy is back to pre-crisis levels
and has gone from being the world’s growth
laggard to a growth leader.

“Not only is UK growth likely to outpace
the other major industrial