HMRC able to take up to £17,000 from taxpayers

News has emerged of HMRC being able to take up to £17,000 from taxpayers as part of its recovery procedures. Walker Thompson wants to clarify here that this is a mechanism to code out larger tax debt via PAYE and is NOT linked to the proposals allowing HMRC access to peoples bank accounts.

The change, expected to raise £115m in the 2015-16 tax year, has aroused less controversy than plans to deduct the money from bank accounts because it spreads payments over the year and does not affect those earning less than £30,000, who will still be subject to a £3,000 limit. HMRC has introduced a sliding scale so only those earning more than £90,000 would face a potential £17,000 deduction. It has also guaranteed that it would not take more than half the salary of those affected.

We assume this means Gross Salary but with certain high earners the tax code already accounts for various benefits in kind such that taking half of salary through additional coding could possibly leave no net pay !