George Osborne to curb taxman's power to raid bank accounts New powers will allow HMRC to dip into bank accounts and take money Initial bill provoked criticism and was described as 'horrifying' by MPs New safeguards include face-to-face meetings and protection for elderlyÂ By James Chapman, Political Editor George Osborne will announce protection for the elderly and other vulnerable people, face-to-face visits from the taxman, and an appeal process George Osborne will today announce a series of climbdowns over controversial plans to allow the taxman to seize money directly from peopleâ€™s bank accounts. The Chancellor will agree to introduce new safeguards designed to prevent misuse of the powers, expected to be applied to around 17,000 â€˜persistentâ€™ non-payers a year. Following months of controversy, Mr Osborne will announce that people will have to have a face-to-face visit from a tax official before money can be clawed back, a 30-day grace period to arrange a repayment plan and a right to appeal to a county court. And vulnerable individuals, such as elderly people, will be protected, the Treasury will say. In March, it was announced that the Government would â€˜modernise and strengthenâ€™ the taxmanâ€™s ability to call in debts by allowing â€˜direct recoveryâ€™ of cash from bank and building society accounts, including Isas. Experts warned the HMRCâ€™s long track record of errors meant it could not be trusted as â€˜judge, jury and executionerâ€™ and suggested it could prompt savers to go back to storing cash under the mattress. The latest concessions were welcomed by some of those who have previously attacked the plans, but are unlikely to appease all critics. Though ministers say many other tax authorities around the world, including in Australia, France and America, have similar powers, MPs had described the original plans as â€˜horrifyingâ€™. Around 17,000 people a year will have money seized under the debt recovery powers without the need for HMRC to go to court. Officials expect to recoup around Â£375 million that would otherwise have gone unpaid between 2015 and 2019. It says it will only apply to persistent debts of over Â£1,000, and ensure its targets always have at least Â£5,000 left over after any raid on their accounts. Bank account raids are only supposed to be used when debtors have repeatedly ignored attempts to make contact. Under todayâ€™s concessions, they will also be guaranteed a face-to-face visit from an HMRC official, to ensure that they have a chance to challenge and settle their affairs â€" whether by paying in full or setting up a payment plan. New legislation will allow HMRC to dip into the bank accounts of 'persistent non-payer' of tax and take what is owed, including from join accounts and Isas The visit will also allow officials to identify vulnerable members of society to provide them with appropriate support, ministers say. Legislation will allow for appeal to the County Court, while a hold on debtorsâ€™ accounts before money is take will now be 30 days â€" more than twice as long as previously planned â€" to allow people to make contact and arrange a payment plan or mount an objection. Financial Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke will say: â€˜This is about levelling the playing field. The vast majority of people pay the tax that is due, on time, but there is still a very small minority who try to gain an unfair advantage by persistently refusing to pay what they owe, despite being able to.Â These are the people who will be targeted by the powers for the direct recovery of debts owed to the Exchequer. This shouldnâ€™t be about people who canâ€™t pay, but people who can pay but simply wonâ€™t. Stephen Herring, head of taxation at the Institute of DirectorsÂ â€˜We already set out robust safeguards to protect vulnerable debtors in our original direct recovery of debts proposals, but feedback from the consultation process told us we could do more to make sure this only catches those who are playing the system. â€˜Weâ€™re strengthening the guarantees we can offer taxpayers that the powers will only be used when debtors have consistently refused to talk to HMRC and settle their debts, and their use will be subject to the toughest scrutiny and oversight possible. â€˜Weâ€™re far from the first country to take this step â€" many other tax authorities already use similar powers routinely and responsibly as a crucial lever for ensuring their government is paid what is owed.â€™ Paul Aplin, the chair of the tax technical committee at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said: â€˜The most fundamental concern we had was the lack of any independent oversight or any right to appeal to a court. â€˜Weâ€™ve got the independent oversight, which is what weâ€™ve been pushing for since day one. Weâ€™ve got to see the detail in the draft legislation, but the main concern was the lack of right of appeal and weâ€™ve got that. â€˜But this is now a fundamentally different power. Now weâ€™ve got a right of appeal, this is a fundamentally different proposition.â€™ Stephen Herring, head of taxation at the Institute of Directors, said: â€˜This should remove some of the more authentic objections. â€˜There was a valid objection about the sort of people who are vulnerable, elderly people for instance. Itâ€™s a sensible and valid thing to do to insist on a visit to identify those sorts of cases before any direct recovery of money can take place. â€˜This shouldnâ€™t be about people who canâ€™t pay, but people who can pay but simply wonâ€™t. Most businesses will be in favour of a system with reasonable safeguards.â€™Â