HMRC mistakingly strips 17,000 parents of their child benefit: ‘The impact of these errors is brutal’

HMRC mistakingly accusing parents of child benefit fraud have a “brutal impact”, charities have warned, after the tax authority confirmed that the majority of allegations have been made in error.

Seven in 10 people (71%) accused of child benefit fraud by HMRC last year were in fact legitimate claims, the Treasury Committee was told on Tuesday (13 January).

HMRC chief executive John-Paul Marks confirmed than 17,048 people were mistakenly stripped of their child benefit. Only 5% of the 23,700 people accused have so far been found to have acted fraudulently.

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Jen Clark, economic and social rights lead at Amnesty International UK, said: “The impact of these errors on families who are often already in desperate situations is brutal. Sadly these failings are becoming more and more common, as the government remains determined to cut welfare spending through automation.

“We’ve found that claimants are now often left in a bureaucratic limbo and that the success of a claim can be dependent on whether it neatly fit into set criteria rather than their actual eligibility. We all have the right to social security, and it shouldn’t be dependent on the constant testing, rolling out and rolling back of costly shiny new technologies by the DWP.”

The Big Issue has reported on errors made by the government in accusing people of benefit fraud. One woman was mistakenly accused of owing the Department of Work and Pensions £28,000 in disability benefit overpayments, an error which was exposed by the Big Issue’s journalism.

A single mother who spoke to The Big Issue was falsely accused of owing the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) more than £12,000 in universal credit overpayments.

The Guardian has been investigating HMRC errors in accusing people of child benefit fraud.

Marks confirmed that thousands of people were falsely accused as a result of removing PAYE checks when attempting to catch out parents who had emigrated and were still claiming child benefit. It meant they were relying on incomplete Home Office travel data.

A pilot the previous year had used both Home Office data and PAYE checks, but PAYE checks were removed when the scheme was rolled out.

Some parents were accused of fraud because they had used Dublin airport to return to Northern Ireland for example, of which the Home Office did not have record because of issues around border control between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The PAYE check has since been put back into fraud checks, Marks said.

An HMRC spokesperson said: “We estimate that £270 million of child benefit payments were incorrectly claimed in 2024-25 – with unreported residency changes a leading cause. The pilot remains our best assessment of how using international travel data effectively can help tackle error and fraud.

“This approach means we contact less than 2% of child benefit customers rather than asking all recipients to regularly confirm they remain eligible.”

Meagan Levin, policy manager at Turn2us, said: “This concerning case highlights a wider problem across our social security system. Fraud occurs in a small minority of cases, while official error, including administrative mistakes, is far more common. 

“When systems are designed around suspicion rather than support, innocent families can lose vital income overnight, causing unnecessary hardship. Even when errors are later corrected, the harm has already been done. Examples like this strike fear into people who are entitled to support. 

“We regularly hear from people who are scared to engage with the system and delay or avoid claiming altogether because they are worried about being accused of doing something wrong. 

“Our social security system should be built on trust, support, and fairness. Getting this wrong does not just hurt individual families, it undermines confidence in the system as a whole.”

Have you been accused of benefit fraud in error? Get in touch and tell us moreor email senior reporter Isabella McRae on isabella.mcrae@bigissue.com.

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