HM Revenue and Customs are facing criticism for increasing errors in tax collection. It has collected £238m extra as a result of PAYE errors.

A spokesman for HMRC has admitted that some amount of over-charging has been their fault, but most of the errors are by the taxpayers. He went on to give various reason where tax-payers could have erred.

He said that taxpayers might have overpaid due to use of wrong tax codes, which vary according to a person’s income. He gave examples saying that a person starting a new job could have had an emergency tax code or people would have forgotten to inform HMRC when their rental income reduced.

Accountancy group UHY Hacker Young has blamed glitches in the computer system and also the falling accuracy of manual processing by HMRC staff. Though a target of 89% accuracy has been set by HMRC the staffs has been well below par in these statistics.

HMRC reached an all time low of 71% last November and the accuracy has consistently been well below the target leading to unsatisfied taxpayers.

Rob Durrant-Walker, tax manager at UHY Hacker Young has criticised these figures and it is shocking to see that errors in tax collection through PAYE has increased by 148% over the last year.

Figures in 2008-209 had showed HMRC had overcharged £96m. He had even expressed his sympathy towards pensioners as they are vulnerable due to their multiple sources of income.

But HMRC refused to accept this and have slammed UHY Hacker Young for trying to make this issue emotional. They have also warned taxpayers of frauds who have been sending out e-mails luring them to make tax reclaims. They have clarified that HMRC contacts customers only by post. They cautioned the taxpayers about scammers who may use telephone or e-mail to obtain their details.