Over 23,000 families lost child benefit for going on holiday thanks to HMRC error

UK tax agency, HMRC, has been forced to apologise after thousands of families had their child benefits stopped – because they took their kids on holiday.

Back in August, the government announced that a new specialist team would stop over £350 million in child benefit fraud in the next five years. The team would do this by finding people who’d moved abroad but still claimed benefits in this country. At the time, Cabinet Office Minister Georgia Gould said:

If you’re claiming benefits you’re not entitled to, your time is up.

However, what it’s actually done is target those who are entitled to claim child benefits, who are just trying to take their kids on holiday.

HMRC mistakes uncovered

Over the weekend, The Detail found that hundreds of families in Northern Ireland had their benefits stopped after HMRC incorrectly identified them as committing benefit fraud. Rather than targeting people who were leaving the country but still claiming benefits, 346 families in Northern Ireland found their benefits stopped because they returned via Dublin airport, in the Republic of Ireland.

It’s quite common now that families will fly out of one airport and return to the country via another. That’s because tickets for single journeys to different airports often work out cheaper than returns. However, the problem with this happening between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is that, because there are no passport checks on the border, there’s no way of knowing if a person has returned to Northern Ireland.

However, since then, it’s been discovered by the Guardian that 23,489 families across the UK have also had their child benefits stopped in similar circumstances. This includes families who flew out with their children but drove or took the train back. And, they also found that:

HMRC apologised to the families and admitted it had sent letters to less than 0.5% of the 6.9m claimants with “payments suspended” while inquiries continued. It said it expected “the majority had been suspended correctly”.

So, families are left out of pocket whilst HMRC sort their shit out.

And, what’s even more baffling is that some of the parents affected flew in and out via the same airport, so even when the proof they returned to the country was there, HMRC recorded otherwise. For many, this is despite them having jobs and receiving other benefits in the UK, so the Department for Work and Pensions knew where they were, but HMRC didn’t.

Dodging blame

The HMRC said it was “urgently reviewing the current process and actively considering options.” However, they did also claim that “the majority had been suspended correctly”.

Whilst apologising, they still laid the responsibility at the parents’ doors, saying:

While this affects a very small number of child benefit claimants, we are very sorry to those whose payments have been suspended incorrectly. They should respond to us as soon as possible so we can check their case, reinstate payments, and ensure no one is left out of pocket.

This just shows once again that the government are focusing far too much on pushing out measures that make them seem like they’re tough on supposed “benefit fraud crackdown”, but in reality, all they do is harm the people they’re supposed to support.

If they fuck up this epically with something as provable as who is in the country, how can we possibly trust them with disability benefit reforms when health conditions are much harder for claimants to prove?

Featured image via the Canary