Treasury pays out tax credits to ineligible claimants

Treasury pays out tax credits to ineligible claimants

An Inland Revenue document obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act suggested that some 2,700 migrants were wrongly paid the credits because officials were told to overlook irregularities in their claims.

Between April 2003 and December 2004, officials at the Inland Revenue were instructed not to investigate cases of migrant claimants who had failed an important UK residency rule, reported the Radio 4 Today programme.

According to unconfirmed BBC calculations, the total cost of the decision could amount to around £2.7m a year.

Migrants 'wrongly paid tax credits' (The Guardian, 13 June 2006)