HMRC child benefit suspensions due to incomplete travel data
HMRC's anti-fraud system designed to detect emigration wrongly suspended child benefit payments for thousands of families by failing to account for travel through Dublin airport and incomplete international travel data. HMRC apologised and said it had reinstated payments and was reviewing its process.
What happened
A new HMRC anti-fraud system designed to track emigration compared HMRC records with Home Office international travel data. The system flagged hundreds of families as having emigrated and suspended their child benefit payments.
Families were wrongly flagged because the system did not account for travel via Dublin airport, where there are no routine passport checks under the Common Travel Area arrangement between the UK and Ireland. UK residents returning to Northern Ireland through Dublin were mistakenly recorded as having departed the UK permanently.
HMRC sent letters questioning the residency of 23,489 claimants out of 6.9 million in receipt of child benefit across the UK. The system suspended payments for families who had taken short holidays, including trips to Amsterdam, France, Italy and Australia.
Reported impact
Hundreds of families in Northern Ireland and thousands across the UK had child benefit payments wrongly stopped. Cases included parents who took one-day trips with autistic children, a woman who travelled for a funeral, and a man living and paying taxes in England for 24 years.
Index analysis
The system misidentified returning residents as emigrants by failing to account for incomplete travel data at airports and ports and gaps in records where no routine passport checks occur.
Governance controls
HMRC apologised for the mistake and said it had reinstated 134 payments. HMRC said it was 'urgently reviewing the current process and actively considering options' and expected to introduce an 'upfront check' to identify Northern Ireland customers whose exit from the UK was to the Republic of Ireland.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.