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Tax Credits Bill
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason the definition of a couple for purposes of the Tax Credits Bill is different from that used in the State Pension Credit Bill. [26796]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 14 January 2002]: The definition of couple used in the Tax Credits Bill follows that used in the Taxes Acts, including for the existing children's tax credit.
Mr. Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish draft versions of the regulations referred to in the Tax Credits Bill in advance of the scrutiny of that Bill in Committee. [26795]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 14 January 2002]: Draft regulations under the powers provided in the Tax Credits Bill will be made available as soon as possible.
Union Fees
Mr. Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the trade unions which have tax relief for their members' membership fees. [26792]
Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 14 January 2002]: Details of organisations, including trade unions, for which tax relief can be claimed on fees paid to them can be found in the Inland Revenue booklet List 3, copies of which can be found on the Inland Revenue website.
Pensioner Taxation
David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment has been made of the number of pensioner couples whose tax allowances have been reduced by the abolition of married couples allowance resulting from them attaining the age of 60 or 65 years after 5 April 2000; [26890]
- (2) what assessment has been made of the number of pensioner couples in north-west Leicestershire whose tax allowances have been reduced by the abolition of married couples allowance resulting from them attaining the age of 60 or 65 years after 5 April 2000. [26889]
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Dawn Primarolo [holding answer 14 January 2002]: No taxpayer will have their tax allowances reduced as a result of reaching 60 or 65 after 5 April 2000. Most pensioner taxpayers will qualify for an increased personal allowance after reaching the age of 65.
Drug Smuggling
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the level of drug smuggling from Jamaica to the United Kingdom in the last five years. [26530]
Mr. Boateng: Customs seized 11 tonnes of cocaine destined for the UK during the financial year 2000–01 of which about 750 kilos arrived from Jamaica.
Comprehensive Spending Review
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in what form the results of the Comprehensive Spending Review will be published; and if he will make a statement. [26139]
Mr. Andrew Smith: It is anticipated that the conclusions of the 2002 Spending Review will be published in a Command Paper and accompanied by a statement by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as with those of the 1998 Comprehensive Spending Review, and the 2000 Spending Review.
VAT
Ms Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to synchronise the VAT rates between local education authorities and further education colleges in respect of further and sixth form education. [27382]
Mr. Boateng: VAT is not charged on education taught in LEA schools or in further education colleges.
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much VAT was paid per average household on all goods and services, at current prices, in each of the last four years. [26226]
Mr. Boateng: Information on VAT receipts as a percentage of household expenditure for the years 1991–92 to 2000–01 is contained within the Value Added Tax Factsheet September 2001 produced by Customs and Excise, a copy of which has been placed in the House of Commons Library.
VAT (Digitised Products)
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason VAT is applied to digitised books. [26446]
Mr. Boateng: Digitised books do not fall within the ordinary meaning of books and cannot be zero-rated for VAT.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what analysis he has made of the risk to future revenue from VAT as a result of the growth of trade in digitised products. [26447]
Mr. Boateng: Customs and Excise have for several years have been working alongside business and the UK's partners in the EU and OECD to ensure that the tax
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system adapts to increased trade in digitised products, and to minimise any risks to the revenue. Customs' current assessment is that the potential risk is very small.
VAT (Audiology Treatment)
Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to change VAT on hearing aid audiologist treatment. [25971]
Mr. Boateng: Customs and Excise are consulting businesses and bodies such as the Royal National Institute for the Deaf to assess whether recent legal rulings have implications for the VAT treatment of audiologist's services provided to a patient at the same time as a hearing aid.
VAT (Charities)
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his current estimate is of the revenue that would be forgone were he to treat charities in the same way as local authorities under section 33 of the VAT Act 1994. [26450]
Mr. Boateng: No such estimate has been made.
VAT Misdeclarations
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue the Exchequer has received in penalties arising from misdeclaration of value-added tax (a) in real terms and (b) as a percentage of the total tax value for VAT in each of the last four years. [26113]
Mr. Boateng: It is not possible to provide the information requested since no separate record is kept of payments of VAT misdeclaration penalties. Payments of all penalties as a percentage of total VAT receipts over the last four years, all expressed in real terms, were as shown in the table.
| Penalties receipts (£ million) | Total VAT receipts(32) (£ billion) | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 13.5 | 102.6 | 0.13 |
| 1999–2000 | 12.0 | 98.2 | 0.12 |
| 1998–99 | 10.6 | 93.7 | 0.11 |
| 1997–98 | 10.4 | 91.6 | 0.11 |
(32) Does not include penalty receipts
Manufacturing Productivity
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the level of manufacturing productivity in each of the last four years. [26146]
Mr. Boateng: The Government are implementing a comprehensive strategy for delivering stronger productivity growth in the UK. This addresses issues at the regional, national and international levels and involves stakeholders from across all sectors of the economy.
E-commerce
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the present and future impact of e-commerce on the concept for tax purposes of corporate residence. [26449]
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Dawn Primarolo: E-commerce of itself is unlikely to have significant short-term impact on the concept for tax purposes of corporate residence. However the UK tax authorities continue to be engaged in discussions at OECD, in consultation with the business community, on this and related e-commerce issues.
Tax Planning (Revenue Losses)
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the tax lost to the Inland Revenue in each of the last four years as a consequence of tax planning by accountancy firms. [26234]
Dawn Primarolo: Tax planning is a term commonly used to describe the organisation of financial affairs in an entirely lawful manner in order to minimise liability to tax. It is not really practicable to estimate the tax liabilities that would have arisen had accountants organised the affairs of their clients in a less efficient manner. Consequently, there can be no reliable measure of the tax lost to the Inland Revenue as a consequence of tax planning.
Beer Duty
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumption he has made in his forecasts for the revenue from beer duty of the rate of duty pass-on by retailers to their customers. [26454]
Mr. Boateng: Appendix A1 of the Financial Statement and Budget Report 2000 details the assumption made regarding pass-on of excise duty by retailers to consumers. This assumption is unchanged.
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to the rate of beer duty on the volume of duty-paid imports from other EU countries. [26453]
Mr. Boateng: About 1 per cent. of all beer consumed in the UK has been legitimately bought duty-paid in another EU country. The impact of changes to the rate of beer duty on this volume appears to have been negligible.
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