Probate, the tax office, child benefit … The list goes on. All we hear about are constant delays at various government departments.
Getting a grant of probate used to take about four to six weeks. But since going “digital” and centralising the probate office, which led to a loss of experienced staff, the system has been suffering chronic delays. A surge in deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t helped. The latest figures show that the average waiting time for probate applications is about 14 weeks, but many families are waiting for more than a year.
While the bereaved are stuck in limbo, interest owed on inheritance tax bills mounts up.
There is a real issue with delays for tax refunds too. Whether that is for income tax, VAT or inheritance tax overpayments. Sometimes it can even be a matter of life and death. An HM Revenue & Customs insider told the Times that a terminally ill woman waited more than six months to get her money back.
Now, about half a million of families have not received their child benefit payments on time. Money due in bank accounts on June 3 did not arrive because of a technical glitch affecting HMRC. Parents took to social media to complain, with some saying that they have been left unable to buy food or pay for their child’s bus fare. While most should have their payments now, it’s just another example of the delays.
Why do we have to pay for the inept failures of these organisations? If a taxpayer files their tax return even a day after the deadline, they face a fine. Yet there is nothing we can do about the multiple delays that civil servants are responsible for. Welcome to the hypocrisy economy where there is one rule for them and one rule for us. It’s time someone was held accountable and it shouldn’t be normal people.
It is ridiculous that one government body (HMRC) can rake in money because of another government body’s (the probate office) failure to deal with delays. HMRC needs to scrap the interest charge until the probate delays have been sorted out.
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HMRC should also face the same penalties for paying taxpayers late that they charge people for filing late. It charges 7.75 per cent for late payment, but only pays 4.25 per cent on overpayments.
Its excuse? That it is “in line with the policy of other tax authorities worldwide”. And that “it compares favourably with commercial practice for interest charged on loans or overdrafts and interest paid on deposits”.
But hey, HMRC, you’re not a bank are you? And do customers face the same delays in other countries?
And while the families who did not get their child benefit on time will be able to get redress, it won’t take away the stress many must have felt last week. Enough of the double standards. One rule for all.
@JohannaMNoble
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