We're going after all your bank details crackdown on welfare fraud

[TriWooOx]

Quote:Ministers are seeking access to the bank details of virtually everyone in the country to crack down on the £5billion lost to fraud and error in the welfare system each year.

The Government is to change the law to require the banks and private companies to hand over details of earnings by millions on out-of-work benefits and tax credits.

The scheme will eventually be extended to cover all people in work, allowing HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to reduce the massive errors seen in the tax system in recent years.

The move is likely to raise concerns about both privacy and data security, but
Whitehall sources insisted last night that all the information involved is already supposed to be passed to the Government.

One said: ‘About 94 per cent of employees and 97 per cent of benefit recipients get their earnings or benefits through the banking system – it contains all the data we need.

‘This does not involve us receiving new information, but it does involve us getting it in a more timely manner and in a way that is easier to use in reducing fraud and error.

‘It will catch out people who are not reporting a change in their circumstances, and make it easier to identify people who are saying different things to HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to maximise their tax credits and benefits.’

The scheme, due to be phased in during the next three years, will involve a ‘massive data-matching exercise’ to cross-check payments made to benefit recipients against their declared earnings.

HMRC already receives details on earnings from companies on an annual basis through the pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) system.

Meanwhile, the DWP holds information on payments made and declared earnings of all benefit recipients.

But there is currently no system to link the two. Under the new proposals, the banks will be ordered to allow officials access to details of payments made through the banking system.

Employers will also be required to hand over payroll details each month, rather than on an annual basis.

Much of the error in the benefits system relates to the time lag in officials receiving information about changes in a person’s circumstances, such as a new job, extra overtime or a new partner.

In many cases overpayments of tax credits and benefits continue to rack up for months, resulting in huge sums which can never be recovered.

At least six million people have recently been told they have paid the wrong amount of tax because of errors in the existing system, and the final figure could be as high as 15million.

A Government source said: ‘Having information on a monthly basis will allow HMRC to keep track of what is going on with people’s earnings and allow it to adjust tax codes more quickly.’

Whitehall's monthly audit

Whitehall departments will be forced to publish month by month plans of their activity to improve accountability, the Prime Minister will say today.

David Cameron will unveil plans for a ‘power shift’ designed to make Government more transparent.

He will present it as an alternative to Labour’s target culture, which he argues encouraged short-term thinking and distorted priorities.

Ministers who fail to deliver agreed reforms and savings will be required to write a public letter to Mr Cameron explaining the poor performance.

Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander said the proposals represented a ‘quiet revolution’ in the way government works.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...fraud.html

[Deathaniel]

bout f'N time!

for years i always commented on why there is not better control on welfare and who gets it, i mean I've known folks to get a check while in jail, or in more then one state (province) at once. I mean look at the rules for welfare in the 30's all are perfectly acceptable and put reasonable limits on those asking for assistance. if the gov is giving my tax dollars away then they should be keeping better track of who there going to and whither they person needs the cash or not, most dealers collect yet have nice new cars the gov should be asking how such folks can have credit cards and new cars...jmo

[FastTadpole]

The one thing they should track in a welfare state .. government hand outs may as well audit the recipients of grants and subsidies while they are at it. 1000s of cheques are written out to deceased or non-existant farmers for corn subsidies. There is an epidemic of double claimants for agri-welfare too. They're going to have fun tracking carbon credit scams. They can't even (or don't bother) having any decent oversight for stock trading manipulation.

This is an obvious ploy to stick their noses in people's financial transactions this will go right along with the $600+ IRS disclosure of all goods and services in the US**, Canada's proposed Bill C-36, the Swiss Banking audits along with SWIFT (PDF), The US Patriot Act (I and II) and the corporate Know Your Customer and get a foot in the door for total monitoring via the most effective means to watch it all -- a 100% global digital currency.

**

Quote: …Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will amend the Internal Revenue Code to expand the scope of Form 1099. Currently, 1099 forms are used to track and report the miscellaneous income associated with services rendered by independent contractors or self-employed individuals.

Starting Jan. 1, 2012, Form 1099s will become a means of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service the purchases of all goods and services by small businesses and self-employed people that exceed $600 during a calendar year. Precious metals such as coins and bullion fall into this category and coin dealers have been among those most rankled by the change.

So every time a member of the public sells more than $600 worth of gold to a dealer, Piret said, the transaction will have to be reported to the government by the buyer…

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/fundmastery...-scrutiny/

[Deathaniel]

yep, and the other benefit to a digital currency is the extinction of the Black market, as without a free paper currency it will be reduced to barter.

just in time to stem too many sheeple from stocking up without the gov knowing!

[FastTadpole]

Quote:yep, and the other benefit to a digital currency is the extinction of the Black market, as without a free paper currency it will be reduced to barter.

They've been gearing up for a corporate / government (PPP = fascist) transfer of the drug industry. Pharma Patents (they've already got heroin under wraps (morphine, codeine, methadone), have filed patents on shrooms and THC pills too. Prop 19 was to test the waters to see how asleep people were (why else would they make it a reeferendum) as it would have been favourable to corporate pot cartels and kill a lot of the medical marijuana ops already in place.

[yeti]

Once again the criminals in government are assuming that the majority of citizens are ignorant, and once again they will be proven right.

They want to be able to examine their enemies' (you) financial records whenever they want.

So how do they get the people to go along with it? Make them think it's their idea, of course! Works every time!

How do they do that? Create a bogus problem which invokes a Pavlovian reaction by the masses who will demand a solution. The sheeple will willingly accept their new chains of bondage, and even thank their oppressors for a job well done!

(insignificant) Problem: Welfare cheats are stealing the people's money.
(knee-jerk) Reaction: "How awful! Something must be done"!
(overkill) Solution: Pass legislation allowing the government to look at anyone's financial records at any time without oversight.

Why are welfare cheats an insignificant problem? Take a look at the tax rates. Corporations and the elite pay little or no taxes. If the actual problem was a shortfall in tax revenues, the obvious solution would be to go after the biggest source of the shortfall.