‘Savers will go back to storing cash under the mattress if the taxman wins the power to seize money from bank accounts, experts warned last night.
They said HMRC’s record of blunders meant it could not be trusted as ‘judge, jury and executioner’ over people’s money.
Officials want to be able to take funds directly from the current accounts, joint accounts or ISAs of those owing it money.
But this ‘could lead to customers thinking their money is not safe and cashing out their savings, leading to a return to cash under the mattress’, says the Building Societies Association.
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The Institute of Chartered Accountants said HMRC would inevitably make errors that could have damaging consequences.
The Law Society, the Federation of Small Businesses and human rights group Liberty have written jointly to the Chancellor urging him to abandon the plans.’
Niamh Harris