HMRC admits 71% wrongly targeted in child benefit fraud crackdown

HMRC has admitted a major system failure in a child benefit fraud crackdown, wrongly targeting 71% of parents whose benefits were suspended. HMRC chief executive John-Paul Marks revealed to the Treasury select committee that only "just under 5%" of the 23,700 cases were actually fraudulent, far less than the initial projection. The flawed system, implemented in July, relied on incomplete Home Office travel data after PAYE checks were removed. Parents were subjected to intrusive questionnaires to prove their eligibility. The committee chair criticized HMRC for causing unnecessary distress and making incorrect assumptions about travel patterns, particularly regarding parents in Northern Ireland using Dublin airport. The error rate is significantly higher than the 63% previously acknowledged by HMRC.

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