HMRC accepted ‘tolerable’ risk of harm in child benefit fraud crackdown

Internal documents show tax officials withdrew funds without warning families despite concerns about data

• UK politics live - latest updates

UK tax authorities believed that withdrawing child benefit payments from parentswithout prior consultation as part of an anti-fraud drive carried a tolerable" risk, with only a remote" chance of inflicting harm, according to internal documents.

The revelations come just weeks after it emerged that at least 63% of those who had their child benefit stopped were in fact still living in the UK and had not emigrated, as inferred by incomplete Home Office data used in the crackdown.