Petition Stop HMRC deducting income tax before personal allowance is reached

HMRC currently deducts income tax from PAYE earnings before the personal allowance for individual earners has been reached. If the income has been fairly and legitimately earned, the Government has no legal right to this money and is in effect, acquiring an interest free loan without the prior consent of the individual concerned. This inefficient scheme of deducting money that should not be taken in the first place and then paying it back piecemeal, is both costly and patronising to the taxpayer funding it. The money deducted should be earning interest in the individual's own bank account and not in the Government's. This current state of affairs can cause real hardship for low income households, especially if the wage earner is on a short or zero hours contract and should be stopped. The Government should only deduct what it is legally entitled to and not presume ownership of others' earned income.