A failure by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to reduce errors and fraud in the tax credit system has "cost the taxpayer dear", a group of MPs said, after the tax authority admitted it would miss its target by £5bn.
HMRC had expected to save £8bn by 2015 from reducing errors and fraud in the administration of tax credits, but it said it now anticipates it will save £3bn. The revelation comes in a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), due out on Wednesday, which labels the continuing high levels of fraud and error as "hugely disappointing and extremely poor". Committee chairman Margaret Hodge will say the failings show HMRC did "not properly understand which actions are effective in dealing with these issues". "They now say they will only save £3bn and in 2011-12 wrote off £1.7bn of ta...
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