New figures suggest that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is stepping up its efforts to increase its tax take from businesses and individuals, with the 2013 haul being £19.5bn more than the year before.
Income tax and National Insurance, VAT and Stamp Duty Land Tax were the major contributors to the increase, all of which points towards a recovering economy.
However, while the underlying economic resurgence is good news for the country, some taxpayers are less than happy with some of the taxman’s decisions, as witnessed by the number of challenges HMRC has faced in court.
The number of Judicial Reviews (JRs) against the department has increased, with 51 applications for a JR being brought in 2012, compared with only 39 in 2011, a leap of 31 per cent.
Grounds for bringing a JR range from irrationality to procedural impropriety and are typically used to challenge “unreasonable” behaviour, such as a failure by HMRC to follow its own guidelines.
Although not all of these recent applications will have resulted in a full-blown JR, the sharp increase in them suggests that some of the taxman’s decisions have been contentious and that the taxpayers feel they have nothing to lose by bringing them.
However, a recent consultation by the Government, aiming to stem the growth of the judicial review system because of “time-wasting”, could limit the taxpayer’s recourse for complaint, which could lead to the department trying to claw back even more tax.