HMRC to review thousands of tax credit cases.
The government has accepted the findings of a critical report by MPs* into the failures of a company contracted by HMRC to improve the tax credit system and reduce fraud.
Concentrix was shown to have wrongly reduced or stopped the benefits of thousands of claimants. The company was stripped of the contract last year.
Now HMRC will revisit up to 23,000 cases of claimants who lost money but didn’t appeal through a mandatory reconsideration. Of the 36,000 who did appeal an astonishing 87% were successful.
This response to a shocking series of events is a success for the committee, Citizens Advice** and others who gathered evidence and campaigned for change.
It’s also a credit to ministers and officials who have accepted that wrongs must be righted and lessons learned.
*Work and Pensions Select Committee, Government accepts Committee recommendations following Concentrix debacle 06/02/17
**Tax credit fiasco Citizens Advice Reigate & Banstead 17/01/17