UK launches review of debt repayment policy.

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The United Kingdom government has launched a review of the “debt payment” with the intention of “closing” the negotiations on the tax avoidance campaign that has been linked to several suicides.

Treasury Secretary James Murray told the Financial Times that the motivation behind the review; announced On Thursday, it was to settle tax debts related to the evacuation plans.

But he added that the review, led by former HM Revenue and Customs inspector Ray McCann, would protect “fairness for the (public) purse” and other taxpayers not involved in tax avoidance.

“Some people who have been affected by debt repayment find it difficult to think of a way out of their situation. . . For me, that’s the driving force behind this review to try to resolve the issue and bring the issue to them,” Murray said in an interview before the announcement.

In 2019, then Conservative The government proposed the loan repayment in an attempt to avoid “hidden payment” schemes in which workers in various sectors are paid with loans by offshore trusts and which have become widespread over the past two decades.

HMRC has. He said earlier It is estimated that around 50,000 people are affected by loan defaults and that users’ incomes are “double that of the average UK taxpayer”.

The loan repayment scheme initially required the affected people to pay tax on up to 20 years of income in a single financial year, sparking a public outcry and allegations that the government was making unreasonable demands.

The previous Tory administration later relaxed the policy, halving the 20-year term and making it easier to spread payments.

But six years after the policy was introduced, tens of thousands of people have yet to settle their case with HMRC. The tax authority said the policy was linked to at least 10 suicides and 13 suicides.

Committed to a new free assessment of loan payments before last year’s general election. In the year Lord Amyas Morse’s previous report in 2019 was criticized by MPs and campaigners for involving officials from the Treasury and HMRC.

Murray said the government “has taken some steps” to ensure public confidence in the review, which will last until the summer and will be carried out by civil servants who have no connection or experience in debt repayment policy. They work in a separate building from the treasury.

McCann, the former president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said: “I’m happy to ask you to help find ways” to resolve the dispute.

McCann has previously criticized how HMRC works with payday loan campaigners, saying “everyone (in the agency) who works on loan schemes can work on customer service”.

The government said in a statement that the assessment “requires loan repayments from HMRC.” It will examine the barriers preventing them from meeting and recommend ways to encourage them to do so,” he said.

Campaigners, who have called for a wider investigation – into planning schemes, umbrella companies, recruitment agencies, accountants and tax advisers, as well as HMRC – criticized the announcement.

Steve Packham, of the Debt Relief Action Group, said the proposed review was a “betrayal” and “doesn’t solve the issue”.

“We are very concerned about the impact of this fake review on mental health,” he added.

Murray said his meeting with the Debt Relief campaigners last year had warned him of the impact of the policy and that the Government wanted the McCann review, which will respond in the Autumn Budget, “to pave the way for a solution for affected taxpayers”. .

Although some have called for “a review on a different scale”, Miri added that the priority is “to help the people who are stuck”.