| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Heavily-indebted Poor Countries
Dr. Tonge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the HIPC II process at the G8 Summit in Okinawa. [116545]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Chancellor of the Exchequer discusses progress on the HIPC initiative with G7 colleagues on a regular basis, and will do so at the G7 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on 15 April, and in the run-up to the Okinawa Summit.
Heads of Government will, at the G8 Summit in Okinawa, discuss progress on implementing the enhanced HIPC initiative agreed at last year's Cologne Summit.
Dr. Tonge:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the World bank and IMF concerning the heavily-indebted poor countries due to qualify for debt cancellation by the end of 2000. [116546]
29 Mar 2000 : Column: 148W
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The Chancellor and Secretary of State for International Development wrote to the Managing Director of the IMF and the Chairman of the World bank in January. In addition, the Chancellor will be holding discussions with the World bank and IMF during the course of the Spring Meetings next month, in his capacity as chairman of International Monetary and Finance Committee. The Secretary of State for International Development, as a member of the Development Committee, will also be discussing the issue of HIPC and progress on Poverty Reduction Strategies.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what target he has set the National Insurance Contributions Office for the prompt payment to the contracted-out money purchase pension schemes of the age-related element of NIC rebates; what proportion of payments met that target in (a) 1997-98, (b) 1998-99 and (c) 1999-2000 to date; and if he will make a statement. [115983]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 23 March 2000]: There is no target for the payment of age related rebates to contracted-out money purchase schemes. Rebate payments depend on the successful processing of employers' end of year returns.
The targets set for processing of employers' End of Year Returns are as follows:
29 Mar 2000 : Column: 147W
(1) To date
29 Mar 2000 : Column: 149W
29 Mar 2000 : Column: 149W
Mr. Burnett:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to reduce the tax burden of disincorporation; and if he will make a statement. [115240]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 17 March 2000]: The Government have no plans to change the tax rules applying to disincorporation. Given the likely complexity, and length, of legislation needed to change the tax law affecting disincorporation there would need to be a strong case for making a change. Officials have consulted with representative bodies and other interested parties, but no strong case for change has so far emerged.
Mr. Matthew Taylor:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the reduction in tax paid per year in cash terms, and as a percentage of total gross annual income, for each income decile group, resulting from a 1p reduction in the basic rate of income tax. [114179]
Dawn Primarolo
[holding answer 14 March 2000]: This Government have introduced a range of measures designed to make work pay and to increase support for families with children, including the 10p starting rate of tax, the national minimum wage and the working families tax credit. The cut in the basic rate is another of those measures.
| Decile | Reduction in tax paid from 1p cut in basic rate in 2000-01 (£ million) | Reduction as a percentage of total gross income |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest | (2)-- | (2)-- |
| 2nd | 25 | 0.12 |
| 3rd | 70 | 0.27 |
| 4th | 125 | 0.39 |
| 5th | 180 | 0.49 |
| 6th | 250 | 0.56 |
| 7th | 330 | 0.62 |
| 8th | 420 | 0.66 |
| 9th | 580 | 0.71 |
| Highest | 720 | 0.41 |
(2) Negligible
Note:
The estimates exclude an offsetting effect from the working families tax credit because this is allocated at family level and not at individual level.
The estimates are based on the 1997-98 Survey of Personal Incomes and are consistent with the November 1999 pre-Budget Report.
29 Mar 2000 : Column: 150W
Mrs. Anne Campbell:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue would have been raised by one penny on the basic rate of income tax in (i) May 1997, (ii) May 1998 and (iii) May 1999; and if he will estimate the amount for May 2000. [112746]
Dawn Primarolo:
In the March 1999 Budget material the tax ready reckoner was published on a pre-Budget regime basis. This showed a figure for changing the basic rate by 1p in 1999-2000 of £1.85 billion compared with the estimate based on the current regime of £2.5 billion.
In the 1997 edition of Inland Revenue Statistics a figure of £1.8 billion was published for the full-year effect of a change in the basic rate of 1p in 1998-99.
In the 1996 edition of Inland Revenue Statistics a receipts figure of £1.3 billion was published for the in-year effect for changing the basic rate by 1p in 1997-98. We would expect this to be much lower than the current full-year figure of £1.65 billion, because only around 88 per cent. of the full year would be received in year.
Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library the latest edition of the Tax Benefit Reference Manual. [113578]
Dawn Primarolo:
[holding answer 8 March 2000]: The latest edition of the Tax Benefit Reference Manual, for 1999-2000, was placed in the Library in July 1999.
Mr. Cox:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) men and (b) women are single parents in the UK. [115917]
Miss Melanie Johnson:
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Tom Cox, dated 20 March 2000:
Mr. Ottaway:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the aggregate cost to the Inland Revenue of issuing notices of pay-as-you-earn coding prior to 6 April 2000 for the tax year 2000-01 for
29 Mar 2000 : Column: 151W
those aged 65 years and over which will have to be re-issued after 5 April 2000, in order to include an uplift in personal allowances as set out in section 257C TA1988. [115710]
Dawn Primarolo:
There is no requirement to issue revised notices of PAYE codings solely to reflect any rise in the levels of personal income tax allowances announced in the Budget.
Mr. Ottaway:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the interest on the revenue collected early from pensioners by the Exchequer through the temporary over-deduction of income tax caused by the Inland Revenue issuing pay-as-you-earn codings prior to 6 April 2000 for the tax year 2000-01 for those aged 65 years and over without taking account of section 257C TA1988. [115707]
Dawn Primarolo:
Notices of coding issued to pensioners take full account of the requirements of Sections 203 and 257C of the Income and Corporation Taxes Acts 1988.
Mr. Ottaway:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, to prevent confusion, he will ensure that the only notice of pay-as-you-earn coding for the tax year 2000-01 pensioners receive before 6 April 2000 is based on the anticipated level of personal allowances for that year for those aged 65 years and over, increased as required by section 257C TA1988. [115708]
Dawn Primarolo:
No. We believe that this would itself lead to confusion and, in some circumstances, could mean that people underpaid tax which had to be recovered.
The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your recent question about the number of single parents in the United Kingdom. I am replying in Dr Holt's Absence.
Latest estimates for the period September to November 1999 show that there were 166,000 male and 1,490,000 female single parents with dependent children. The estimates are drawn from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) household databases. Lone parents are defined in the LFS as those who are non-married, which includes single (never married), widowed, divorced, or separated, and not cohabiting.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |