looks like the news have noticed this cash grab.

[vetran]

HMRC tax powers to raid accounts and ISAs 'would cut out legal process'  | Daily Mail Online

Tax grab 'undermines Magna Carta': New HMRC powers to raid accounts and ISAs 'would cut out legal process'
Measure will give HMRC power to freeze all but £5K of person's assets
Can be used if authorities simply believe someone ‘appears’ to owe tax
The new tax grab powers were unveiled in the Chancellor's Budget

Don't forget IR35 is a personal tax.

[AtW]

It's fine because most people don't have £5k in their bank accounts anyway, easily 95% of UK hard working families are not affected...

[OwlHoot]

Also, let's not forget that proposal a few years ago, when (I think) Labour were still in Government, for income payments to be made directly to HMR&C and passed on to employees net of tax.

It wasn't pursued, but gives you an idea of how some tax officials and politicians think, and allowing HMR&C to dip into people's private bank accounts without legal oversight brings us a big step closer to them simply controlling the accounts as above.

[DimPrawn]

Seems to me this govt is more Big Brother than the New Lie.

They did after all call Dave "The heir to Blair". So what we have now is New Labour MKII....Big on immigration, big on work permits to India, big on hitting individual freedoms and big on taxing those that work.

[BrilloPad]

Excellent comment :-

It is all about accountability. So what should be added to the budget law is that if the HMRC is shown - eventually to have made an error in taking someone's money, then that money shall be repaid at a beneficial rate of interest, damages to make good any and all consequential losses and interest on those amounts shall also be paid, AND the tax officer who authorized the seizure of the money, that officer's superior and the superior's superior shall all be summarily dismissed from the civil service and banned from re-employment in the civil service or contracting to it, they shall also forfeit all pension rights they had accrued. This sword of Damocles if the taxman makes a mistake would temper their willingness to use what should be the very last resort for very clear cases.

[DimPrawn]

Excellent comment :-

It is all about accountability. So what should be added to the budget law is that if the HMRC is shown - eventually to have made an error in taking someone's money, then that money shall be repaid at a beneficial rate of interest, damages to make good any and all consequential losses and interest on those amounts shall also be paid, AND the tax officer who authorized the seizure of the money, that officer's superior and the superior's superior shall all be summarily dismissed from the civil service and banned from re-employment in the civil service or contracting to it, they shall also forfeit all pension rights they had accrued. This sword of Damocles if the taxman makes a mistake would temper their willingness to use what should be the very last resort for very clear cases.

More likely this:

Queen's Birthday Honours for Bristol people - BBC News

[barrydidit]

Don't panic, the Torygraph is on the case:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...-less-tax.html

But what's this?

Many contractors legitimately bill their employers through their personal company

Oh. That's investigative journalism at its finest

[AtW]

Seems to me this govt is more Big Brother than the New Lie. They did after all call Dave "The heir to Blair". So what we have now is New Labour MKII....Big on immigration, big on work permits to India, big on hitting individual freedoms and big on taxing those that work.

It's like Nu Liebor, only with a slightly different fox hunting legislation (SNP permitting) - enjoy