Dominic Raab – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2016-10-18.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times HM Revenue and Customs has used the direct recovery of debts power; and what estimate he has made of the average sum so recovered.

Jane Ellison

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Direct Recovery of Debt (DRD) power came into force in November 2015.

So far this year, following visits by HMRC staff to taxpayers at their homes/offices as part of the DRD process, £20m in unpaid tax has been collected from those with the means to pay without actually needing to exercise the full DRD power, as this is a last resort. As part of this process, the need to deduct directly from a debtors bank account has taken place twice, with the average sum recovered being £39,246.