HMRC is to be handed powers to take money straight from the bank accounts of tax dodgers in Healey's Budget

Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith condemned the plan as 'absurd', warning that Labour would allow the taxman to drain bank accounts and leave people 'with nothing to pay the rent'. Chancellor John Healey is expected to announce the powers on Wednesday, with no court order required. The existing threshold for such action is debts above £1,000. Officials are pursuing £4bn owed across 4.8 million individuals and businesses.

Interest and fines would also be subject to seizure, and the burden of challenging any wrongful deductions would fall on the taxpayer.

The Association of Taxation Technicians is calling for firm safeguards to be in place before the new powers take effect.

Among individual taxpayers, the typical outstanding bill stands at just £950.