Saving Gateway Accounts Bill

Amendment 42 would limit HMRC’s power to recover payments wrongly made. I rise with some trepidation as I believe that the issues the noble Baroness raises around HMRC go well beyond anything limited to the saving gateway account, but are a rather more fundamental concern about the way in which HMRC conducts its relationships. The amendment would qualify the regulation-making power in Clause 12 so that HMRC could not recover an overpayment from a provider where the provider had paid the money to another person in good faith and the recipient had a legal entitlement to the money. I hope that I can give the noble Baroness some reassurance that the amendment as presented is unnecessary. Paragraph (3) of Regulation 20 sets out the persons from whom HMRC can recover amounts claimed by and paid to account providers which it transpires were not properly due. These persons are, first, the account provider, to the extent that the provider has the funds in its possession or control. If that were not the case and the provider has paid the amount it claimed from HMRC to the account holder, HMRC would pursue the individual account holder. Failing that, HMRC could pursue any other person in whom the overpaid amount is vested. In practice, it means that HMRC would generally seek to recover the amount from the person who is holding it. If an account provider has paid a sum over to an account holder in good faith and correctly on the basis of the facts available, it would not be liable and HMRC would seek to recover the sum from the account holder. In the light of that explanation, I hope that the noble Baroness will withdraw her amendment.