Finance Bill

I concede that, and the Government have on occasions been slightly unfairly maligned. A reasonable person trying to be as impartial as possible would say that part of the blame for some of the problems that HMRC has had could reasonably be attached to the Government because they sought to reorder and restructure the organisation. If one undertakes an organisational restructuring, one must live with the consequences of problems or inefficiencies that arise partly as a result of that restructuring. That said, were the Government of this country run by another political party, would such problems disappear overnight? No, it is reasonable to say that they would not. Such problems will inevitably arise in private and public sector organisations, because that is the nature of human error and of the new electronic age in which we live. The only thing we can do is to ensure that the safeguards are constantly reviewed and improved, and I appreciate that the Government are trying to do that—it would be odd if they were not. We encourage the Government to do even better in that regard. On the balance between the powers of the Revenue and the individual taxpayer, it would be helpful to clarify and formalise the specific powers of HMRC, which new clause 19 seeks to do. It is not a one-way street—it would be helpful for employees of that organisation to know in greater detail and with greater clarity what they are allowed to do. I and the hon. Members for South-West Hertfordshire and for Dundee, East raised hypothetical examples in Committee, and there are and always will be grey areas—probably even more than in the past, because people's tendency to work from home, internet cafés or whatever will mean less distinction between the place of work and place of residence than even five years ago. A proper charter that explains what HMRC is able to do would therefore be helpful. Basic rights of appeal for individual citizens against the actions or decisions of HMRC would also be helpful, in which respect the charter would more closely resemble the citizens charters of the 1990s. Many people who understand that HMRC has a job to do, and that a tax inspection regime must be in place, nevertheless feel that they are interfacing with an organisation that is sometimes heavy-handed and unsympathetic to what they regard as legitimate reasons that their tax was not paid precisely as HMRC had decreed. Those people feel that they have little right of appeal or recourse to rectify that perceived wrong. New clause 19 would therefore balance more formally the powers of the state—which we recognise must exist in the field that we are discussing—with the liberties of the individual citizen. It should not be assumed that HMRC's powers are always superior to those of the individual citizen. Taxpayers have rights just as tax collectors do. We look forward to the Financial Secretary's closing remarks, but we wish to press new clause 19 to a vote at the appropriate moment.