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Taxation: Self-assessment

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons HM Revenue and Customs decided not to issue PA10 forms for the tax year 2008-09; and what measures are in place to ensure that taxpayers who are not required to file self-assessment returns do not pay an incorrect amount in tax. [273111]

Mr. Timms: The P810 (Tax Review) form is a non-statutory form and acts as a reminder for customers to advise HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) if they have any additional tax liabilities or unclaimed expenses.

P810 forms are issued on a three-year cycle so there is leeway in the process to control their issue. By not issuing the P810 forms, HMRC will be able to focus its resources on the delivery of the PAYE service, which replaces the current IT PAYE system introduced in the early 1980s. Priority will be given to repayment claims and other unsolicited correspondence from customers. HMRC will resume the issue of P810 forms from April 2010.

Customers are obliged to tell HMRC of any such changes regardless of the issue of a form P810. This is set out on the P2 Notice of Coding, which details the allowances and deductions that have been included in an individual's tax code. P2 notices are issued when HMRC is told of any changes to a customer's circumstances or as part of the annual coding review each January.

Unpaid Taxes

John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the outstanding cost to the Exchequer of unpaid tax over each of the last five years. [271112]

Mr. Timms: Figures for the outstanding amount of tax debt and revenue losses (tax and duty written off each year) are published in HM Revenue and Customs' Annual Accounts, available at:

Administration costs incurred in recovering tax debt and interest paid on additional Government borrowing as a result of unpaid tax represent additional costs to the Exchequer.

Valuation Office

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 2 February 2009, Official Report, column 902W, on Valuation Office, when he plans to place in the Library a copy of the Valuation Office Agency’s (a) Introduction to Inspections Workbook, (b) CT Referencers Manual and (c) NDR Referencers Manual; [276671]

(2) pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 6 May 2009, Official Report, column 178W, on Valuation Office: conferences, when he plans to place in the Library copies of the presentations and handouts from the International Property Tax Institute conference held in Pretoria in March 2009; [276693]

(3) pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 6 May 2009, Official Report, column 179W, on Valuation Office: conferences, when he plans
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to place in the Library copies of the presentations and handouts from the European Valuation Standards conference held in Warsaw on 1 April 2009; [276694]

(4) pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 424W, on Valuation Office: overseas visits, when he plans to place in the Library copies of the presentations given at the (a) Russian Society of Appraisers conference in Moscow and (b) International Property Tax Institute conference in Beijing. [276695]

Mr. Timms: These documents have now been deposited in the Library of the House.

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 9 January 2008, Official Report, column 636W, on Valuation Office: training, when he plans to place in the Library a copy of the e-learning dwelling house coding module. [276672]

Mr. Timms: Due to the volume of data the document can only be deposited in CD Rom format. Arrangements are being made for this to be deposited in the Library of the House.

Valuation Office: Cole Layer Trumble

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Peterborough of 10 March 2009, Official Report, column 262, on the Valuation Office: Cole Layer Trumble, how much has been paid to Cole Layer Trumble and Tyler Technologies for work undertaken on behalf of the Valuation Office Agency to date. [275853]

Mr. Timms: Over the past six years, a total of £3.71 million has been paid to Cole Layer Trumble/Tyler Technologies for this work. This figure excludes non-recoverable VAT.

Valuation Office: Technical Forecasts

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what payments the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has made to Technical Forecasts Limited in the last 12 months; and to what types of properties the forecast models developed by the company for the VOA relate. [275765]

Mr. Timms: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has a contract with Technical Forecasts Limited to provide property value forecasts on behalf of HM Treasury.

The contract runs until 31 December 2009 and is subject to a confidentiality clause that prevents details of the payments for this service being disclosed. The types of property for which forecast data have been prepared are as follows: agricultural land, residential building land, and offices.

Forecasts are also provided for future movements in the prices of office equipment.

The forecasts are then incorporated in indices prepared for HM Treasury by the VOA for use in updating property asset valuations for capital accounting purposes.


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Valuation Office: Training

Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) e-learning programmes and (b) modules the Valuation Office Agency has. [275784]

Mr. Timms: There are currently 26 e-learning programmes available to all Valuation Office Agency staff. These are listed as follows and broken down by module.


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Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much he expects to write off relating to tax credit overpayments made in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05; and if he will make a statement. [275379]

Mr. Timms: Overpayments will be written off where there has been a mistake by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the customer has met all their responsibilities, or where the practicality of collecting overpayments does not provide value for money for the taxpayer. On this last set of grounds, HMRC currently intends to write off £230-240 million of debt for the tax year 2003-04 to date. This will be reflected in the Department's Annual Accounts, which are published annually. A breakdown by tax year is not currently available.

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many families (a) in the UK and (b) in Amber Valley with outstanding tax credit overpayments from 2003-04 and 2004-05 had an income at the time of overpayment of (i) up to £5,000, (ii) £5,000 to £10,000, (iii) £10,000 to £15,000, (iv) £15,000 to £20,000, (v) £20,000 to £30,000, (vi) £30,000 to £40,000, (vii) £40,000 to £50,000 and (viii) over £50,000; and if he will make a statement; [275380]

(2) how many families have outstanding tax credit overpayments originating in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05 (i) in the UK and (ii) in Amber Valley; and if he will make a statement. [275381]

Mr. Timms: The information requested is available only at a disproportionate cost.

However, estimates of the number of families with tax credit awards, including information on overpayments at country, regional and constituency level, are available in the HMRC publications, ‘Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised Annual Awards. Supplement on Payments. Geographical Analysis’. These numbers are based on final family circumstances and incomes and are available for the years 2003-04 to 2006-07 on the HMRC website at:

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