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Accountants call for HMRC inquiry

21/11/2007

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has called for an independent inquiry into the HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) data handling procedures.

Following the loss of the confidential personal details of 25 million Child Benefit claimants, the Institute believes the management of HMRC requires immediate improvement.

Frank Haskew, head of the ICAEW Tax Faculty, said: "It is inevitable that searching questions will now be asked about the origins of this problem and we suspect that the answer is likely to be deep rooted and point to the need for a much wider reform of HMRC's management and operational practices."

"We think that there needs to be a formal and independent inquiry into this incident. The lessons need to be learnt so that this does not happen again," he maintained.

Despite recent improvements in HMRC's customer services and relations with the accountancy sector, the ICAEW has expressed concern over serious operational issues resulting from ongoing pressures to cut costs.

 

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