Economia reports that businesses owe HMRC around £2.5BN in unpaid VAT, this is down on last year's figure of £2.7BN.
This fall in debt comes about as HMRC has doubled its use of distraint (10,577 times in the year ending March 2012, up from 5,520 over the same period in 2011).
HMRC has also more than doubled its spend on external debt collectors to almost £13M, according to data provided by HMRC to financial provider Syscap.
In distraint cases HMRC staff visit a company's premises without warning to collect unpaid taxes. The company then has five days to pay before major assets such as cars and computers can be removed.
Philip White, CEO of Syscap, said that HMRC has become “increasingly draconian” in its approach, through fines and seizing assets.
Has HMRC become more draconian in its approach, or is it that companies have been "pushing the envelope" further wrt delaying payments etc?
Tax does have to be taxing.
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Having previously run a bailiff team for HMRC, I'd say that it was a largely ineffective exercise. Most of our 'customers' were such regulars that they basically just relied on us as a 'red reminder'. They'd pay just enough for us to go away and we'd see them again in a month's time. On the occasional time when we actually destrained and removed goods the businesses tended to owe money all over the place and it was just a matter of which creditor got to them first.
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