Clause 4 - Claims: supplementary
Tax Credits Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Howard Flight (Arundel and South Downs, Conservative)
These are partly probing amendments. Amendment No. 9 would limit the backdating of claims to four weeks. There is no apparent limit in the Bill, but there is major scope for errors, fraud, sloppy administration by the Inland Revenue, and waste of time and money in legal costs to recover money. Four weeks may be too short and a longer period may be reasonable, but a time limit is needed to avoid inefficiency, fraud and waste.
Amendment No. 10 is slightly different. As matters stand, the Revenue can treat claims as if they were made earlier than they were actually made. As drafted, the clause gives scope for bad management, and almost encourages the incompetent handling of claims. The amendment is designed to put pressure on those who administer tax credits, and on those who make claims, to do so in good time.