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Tax System

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publicise the proportion of the purchase price of (a) a pint of beer, (b) a bottle of wine, (c) a bottle of whiskey, (d) a packet of 20 cigarettes and (e) a litre of unleaded petrol that is represented by tax and excise duty. [136391]

Dawn Primarolo: This information is available in Customs and Excise factsheets on (a) beer, (b) wine, (c) spirits, (d) tobacco and (e) hydrocarbon oil, copies of which are in the Library.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish an estimate of the impact of direct and indirect taxes on households in all main income deciles since May 1997. [136419]

Dawn Primarolo: The latest available figures are contained in the article "The effects of tax and benefits on household income, 1998-99" in the April 2000 edition of Economic Trends. It should be noted that the detailed results in this article are freestanding, since the underlying statistics do not support direct comparison with articles from earlier years.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the loss to the Inland Revenue in 1999-2000 resulting from (a) tax avoidance and (b) tax evasion. [136390]

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue does not identify these elements separately in their statistics. Figures are published in the Board of Inland Revenue's Annual Report, copies of which are in the Library of the House, and updates will be published in the next edition.

Excise Duties

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of increased excise duties on the Retail Prices Index since May 1997. [136192]

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Dawn Primarolo: The impact of changes in excise duties on the Retail Prices Index are published by the Office for National Statistics each year on the Internet. The latest of these can be found at http://www.statistics.gov.uk.

Fuel Taxation

Dr. Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason aviation fuel utilities on (a) UK domestic flights and (b) EU internal flights is exempt from fuel taxation. [136544]

Mr. Timms: The relevant EC Directive provides a compulsory exemption for commercial aviation fuels reflecting long-standing international agreement.

Illegal Fuel Imports

Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much road fuel has been seized by Customs and Excise in Northern Ireland because it was being illegally imported into the United Kingdom in each of the last five years. [137088]

Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Ross) on 5 July 2000, Official Report, column 201W.

Mr. Alasdair Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what additional resources Customs and Excise in Northern Ireland have received to deal with increases in the illegal importation of road fuel from the Republic of Ireland. [137089]

Mr. Timms: From within their existing resources Customs and Excise have increased by a factor of four the resource devoted to tackling oils fraud in Northern Ireland, complemented by additional mainland resource for specific exercises.

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Petrol Duty

Mr. Maclean: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of the current level of petrol duty on the Retail Prices Index. [137105]

Mr. Timms: An assessment of the impact from petrol duty on retail prices is made when producing the twice-yearly economic forecast. An updated inflation forecast will be published in the pre-Budget Report, on 8 November.

Floods (Lewes)

Mr. Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will ensure the deadlines normally applicable for VAT and other tax returns by businesses are relaxed for businesses seriously affected by the recent flooding in Lewes. [136566]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 6 November 2000]: Both Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue will deal sympathetically with any business in serious difficulty as a result of an unforeseeable event such as severe flooding. Deadlines applicable to the submission of VAT and other tax returns are prescribed in law but there is no liability to a penalty where the business has a reasonable excuse for failing to meet its obligations.

Tax (Married Couples)

Mrs. Gillan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidelines are issued by the Inland Revenue regarding the tax treatment of married couples where a business partnership exists between husband and wife; if, in these circumstances, an investigation into the tax affairs of either husband or wife automatically triggers an investigation into the financial circumstances of the spouse; and if he will make a statement. [135158]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 6 November 2000]: The tax treatment of a business partnership between husband and wife is the same as the tax treatment of any other business partnership.

The Inland Revenue may open an inquiry into the partnership return and any or all of the partners' personal returns. The official guidance is that before they issue a notice of an inquiry into the partnership return, staff should review the returns of all relevant partners. Where staff decide that they need to check whether the partnership return is fundamentally incorrect, they will normally need to inquire into all of the individual partners' returns as well. This is to ensure that all risks of error or evasion in the partnership are looked at properly.

Where a partner's personal return is selected for inquiry on its merits, without an inquiry into the partnership return, then an inquiry into the spouse's return is not triggered automatically.

Working Families Tax Credit

Mr. Fallon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the annual cost to the Exchequer would be of disregarding the working mother's allowance in respect of the working families' tax credit. [136831]

Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 6 November 2000]: I am not aware of a working mother's allowance.

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Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel

Mr. Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a statement on the introduction of ultra low sulphur diesel. [137609]

Mr. Timms: The Government are today publishing "Using the Tax System to Encourage Cleaner Fuels: The Experience of Ultra-Low Sulphur Diesel". Copies are available in the Library of the House and in the Vote Office.

Barnett Formula

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes have been made to the English comparator that forms the basis of the Barnett formula in each year since 1997; what consequential changes in allocations to (a) Northern Ireland, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales were made as a result; and what the cumulative effect of all such changes was in the current financial year. [137027]

Mr. Andrew Smith: With regard to changes which have been made to the English comparator since 1997, the departmental comparability factors in the Barnett formula which were used in the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review were set out in Annexe C of the Statement of Funding Policy published in March 1999. The factors which were used in the 2000 Spending Review were set out in Annexe C of the updated Statement of Funding Policy in July 2000.

The changes in allocations to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales depend on changes in UK Government Departments' departmental expenditure limits, the relevant departmental comparability factor and the appropriate population share. Increases in the Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales budgets were announced in the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review and 2000 Spending Review.

Spending in the current financial year determined in the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review was based on comparability factors used in that review.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Euro

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Federation of Small Businesses and (b) the Forum of Private Business about Government policy towards the euro. [134379]

Ms Hewitt: I have regular meetings with both the Federation of Small Businesses and the Forum of Private Business to discuss a range of issues regarding the single currency.

US Business Regulation

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will assess the operation of sunset regulation in the United States; and if he will make a statement. [136409]

Ms Hewitt: This Department is well aware of the use of sunset regulations in the United States and elsewhere. It is one of the many techniques available to improve

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regulatory processes and we are already committed to using it in appropriate circumstances. For example, Part I of the Electronic Communications Act 2000--which received Royal Assent on 25 May this year--is subject to a 'sunset clause'.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will assess the impact of the United States Regulatory Flexibility Act 1980 and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act 1996. [136408]

Ms Hewitt: David Irwin, the Small Business Service Chief Executive, and I visited the US in March this year.

In addition, a delegation of the Small Business Council visited the US in October and is currently assessing the impact of that legislation. It will make recommendations on the merits of this type of approach to David Irwin in due course.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will assess the impact of the Family and Medical Leave Act in the United States. [136399]

Mr. Alan Johnson: As part of the review of maternity pay and parental leave, I visited the US in July to learn about existing and proposed provision in the US and best practice in US companies. This included discussions with the Department of Labor on the Family and Medical Leave Act. The Department of Labor is currently undertaking an assessment on the Act's impact in the US, but data are not yet available.

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