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Ministerial Attendance (Select Committee)
Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will reply to the First Special report from the Transport, Local Government and the Regions Committee Session 2001–02, on the attendance of a Minister from the Treasury before the Transport and Local Government Committee. [61086]
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Mr. Boateng: The Government expect to respond to the report soon.
Privatised Industry Regulators
Mrs. May: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what responsibility he has for setting Government policy with regard to the independence of the economic regulators of the privatised utilities. [62301]
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Mr. Boateng: Primary responsibility for the Government's policy on specific regulated industries rests with the relevant Secretary of State.
Mrs. May: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received from (a) the DTLR, (b) the SRA, (c) the Office of the Rail Regulator and (d) train operating companies with regard to the Government's policy towards the independence of the economic regulators of the privatised utilities. [62302]
Mr. Boateng: Treasury Ministers receive representations from a variety of organisations and individuals on a regular basis.
Responsibility for the Government's policy on railways rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport. I refer the hon. Member to an answer the Secretary of State gave on the subject of rail regulation on 12 June.
Advertising
Mr. Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on press and advertising campaigns in 2001–02; and what the planned expenditure is for 2002–03. [60907]
Ruth Kelly: There has been no expenditure for HM Treasury for press and advertising campaigns in 2001–02, there is no planned expenditure for 2002–03.
Inland Revenue (Penalties)
Brian Cotter: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what level of penalty is charged against those failing to submit returns to the Inland Revenue; how many businesses have received these penalties against them over the past three years; and what the total amount received by the Exchequer as a result of these fines was. [61312]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue charges late filing penalties for Self Assessment (SA), Corporation Tax Self Assessment (CTSA) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax. SA taxpayers failing to submit returns by the filing date are charged a £100 penalty and a second £100 penalty if they have not filed six months after the due date. The Inland Revenue can also seek penalties of between £10 and £60 a day at the discretion of the Tax Commissioners on SA taxpayers who persist in not filing a return. Employers and contractors failing to submit a PAYE return are charged a penalty of £100 per month the return is later for each 50 employees or subcontractors. Companies that are late in filing their CTSA returns are charged £100 if they file less than three months after the filing date, £200 if they are between three and 18 months late (if the company files late on three consecutive occasions, these penalties increase to £500 and £1,000 respectively), 10 per cent. of their unpaid tax if they are 18 months to two years late and 20 per cent. of their unpaid tax if they are more than two years late in filing.
Businesses may be liable to submit a return as employers, or under the SA or CTSA regulations. But these regulations also include non-business taxpayers such as employees taxed at the higher rate who are within SA. The Inland Revenue does not distinguish between penalties charged on businesses and other types of taxpayers, so the figures that follow are for all penalties within SA, CTSA and PAYE.
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The first table shows the number of penalties raised by the Inland Revenue from late filing penalties on returns over the last three financial years.
| Penalties raised in the financial year ended: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head of Duty | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| PAYE(52) | 130,000 | 120,000 | 150,000 |
| SA(53) | 1,400,000 | 1,600,000 | 1,500,000 |
| CTSA(52) | 170,00 | 180,000 | 220,000 |
(52) Rounded to the nearest 10,000
(53) Rounded to the nearest 100,000
The second table shows the total amount paid in respect of penalties over the last three account years (these run from November to October and are periods over which the Department's annual accounts are calculated).
| Penalties paid (£) in the account year ended: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Head of Duty | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
| PAYE(54) | 14,200,000 | 14,400,000 | 15,100,000 |
| SA(54) | 29,400,000 | 33,000,000 | 36,200,000 |
| CTSA(54) | 14,400,000 | 18,000,000 | 25,300,000 |
(54) Rounded to nearest £100,000
Mr. Rendel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to prevent the issuing of penalty notices for £0 by the Inland Revenue. [61880]
Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue have no plans at present to stop issuing penalty notices for nil.
Page 1 of the tax return states that the return should reach the Inland Revenue by 'the later of 31 January and 3 months after the date the notice [to make the return] was given, at the latest, or you will be liable to an automatic penalty of £100'.
The issue of a penalty notice lets the customer know that a penalty has been incurred. The nil penalty notice gives the customer who knows the return is late (and has no tax liability) confirmation that the penalty is capped at nil. As the penalty may not remain at nil (if, for example, the customer amends the return or tax becomes payable following an inquiry) it is important that the customer is aware that a penalty has been incurred.
Basic State Pension
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the additional (a) income tax and (b) VAT which would be paid if the basic state pension was raised to £120 a week for the single pensioner and £150 for married couples in (i) 2002–03 and (ii) 2003–04. [61256]
Dawn Primarolo: The estimated income tax yield wold be some £2.8 billion in 2002–03 and £3.3 billion in 2003–04. The VAT yield would depend on what pensioners decided to do with the increase.
Grants
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which organisations and outside bodies which were in receipt of grant in 1997–98 are no longer; what the annual saving is (a) individually and (b) in aggregate;
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which organisations and outside bodies which were not in receipt of grant in 1997–98 now are; and what the annual cost is (i) individually and (ii) in aggregate. [62047]
Mr. Boateng: The aggregate figure for government grants to private organisations and individual was £28.6 billion in 2000–01 (the last year for which full outturn data are available) compared with £24.8 billion in 1997–98. This excludes social security payments classified as grants in the national accounts as grants and includes lottery grants.
Detailed analysis of departmental spending is contained in Departments' annual reports. Comprehensive data on individual grant recipients are not centrally available.
Corporation Tax
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he proposes to extend the reduction in corporation tax for incorporated companies announced in the Budget to unincorporated businesses; and if he will make a statement. [61790]
Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Member for Huntingdon (Mr. Djanogly) on 20 May 2002, Official Report, column 106W.
Pricing Agreements
Mr. Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many advanced pricing agreements (a) have been made and (b) were in force with multinational companies in each year since 1996; and in how many cases each year enforcement action or penalties were taken in transfer pricing disputes. [62024]
Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is in the following table.
| Year to 31 March | Agreements made | Agreements in force |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 3 | 8 |
| 1997 | 2 | 10 |
| 1998 | 3 | 13 |
| 1999 | 2 | 15 |
| 2000 | 10 | 25 |
| 2001 | 11 | 36 |
Transfer pricing issues are dealt with across the IR network, and a variety of enforcement action is taken or proposed, but in most instances information is eventually provided voluntarily, without the need of formal proceedings. Specific records are not maintained. No penalties were taken in respect of transfer pricing disputes.
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