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22 Feb 2010 : Column 232W—continued
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the loss to the Exchequer arising from official error on the part of HM Revenue and Customs staff in each of the last five years. [317299]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is available only at disproportionate cost, as the figures for all HMRC Official Error cases are not collated centrally.
Total revenue losses for HMRC are shown on p100 (table 8.2 ) of HMRC's Trust Statement, available at:
It is not possible to disaggregate figures of Official Error cases from the totals shown.
Revenue and Customs: Manpower
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the HM Revenue and Customs employee headcount was for its (a) PSN and (b) information management services department in (i) 2006, (ii) 2007, (iii) 2008 and (iv) 2009. [312146]
Mr. Timms: The information requested is provided in the following table:
| Employee headcount | ||
| HM RC directorate | ||
| IMS (Information Management Services) | PSN (PAYE, SA and NIC) | |
Sick Pay
Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of statutory sick pay not paid by companies in each of the last five years. [316756]
Mr. Timms: No such estimate has been made.
Hywel Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which 50 companies owe the most in statutory sick pay contributions; and how much each such company owes in such contributions. [316757]
Mr. Timms: Employers are responsible for establishing entitlement and making payment of any Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) due to their employees.
The information requested is not available, as there is no obligation on employers or employees to report to HM Revenue and Customs cases where an employer owes SSP to an employee.
Stamp Duty Land Tax
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax gap in stamp duty land tax in each of the last five years. [317241]
Mr. Timms: In March 2008 HMRC published details of analysis from 2005 that attempted to derive broad-brush estimates of the direct tax gap at the start of the decade. This publication contained a net tax gap estimate for stamp duty land tax of £0.5 billion, within a range of £0.2 billion to £1 billion and can be found at:
The most up-to-date information is found in "Measuring Tax Gaps 2009", published at PBR 2009, which contains an illustrative indicator of the tax gap for all stamp duties, available at:
Tax Allowances: North West
Andrew Stunell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what estimate he has made of the number of people aged 75 years and over resident in each local authority area in the North West with an annual income below (a) £10,000, (b) the age-related personal allowance of £9,640 and (c) the basic level of personal allowance of £6,475 in 2009-10; [317208]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of people aged between 65 and 74 years old resident in each local authority area in the North West with an annual income below (a) £10,000, (b) the age-related personal allowance of £9,640 and (c) the basic level of personal allowance of £6,490 in 2009-10. [317209]
Mr. Timms: The requested information is not readily available due to small sample sizes at local authority area level and non representative data for individuals with income below the personal allowance.
However, information on taxpayers' income and income tax by unitary authority can be found in table 3.14 'Income and tax by borough and district or unitary authority' on HM Revenue and Customs' website, available at:
Estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes, of which 2006-07 is currently the latest available.
Any inference from the information in tables 3.14 should take into account the confidence intervals in table 3.14a 'income and tax by borough and district or unitary authority, Confidence Intervals'.
Taxation
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what forms of individual income are subject to withholding tax but are not part of the Pay As You Earn system; and how the amount to be withheld is calculated on those forms of income. [316948]
Mr. Timms: The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system applies to income from employment and pensions. Other individual income, outside PAYE, and subject to withholding tax is as follows.
Investment income from banks and building societies has basic rate tax deducted at source by the payer. Individuals who are not liable to tax can arrange to receive their income paid gross or claim a repayment, and those who should only be paying at the 10 per cent. savings rate can claim a repayment.
Interest distributions paid by authorised investment funds and investment trust companies are also subject to deduction of basic rate tax at source. Individuals with no liability or reduced liability can claim a repayment.
Other interest, annual payments and patent royalties payable to individuals are subject to deduction of basic rate tax at source. This is treated as if it were tax paid by the recipient, who then only has a tax liability on the gross amount of the payment if they are higher rate taxpayers.
Dividends are not subject to deduction of basic rate tax at source. However, individuals who receive dividends from UK and most non-UK companies are entitled to a non-payable tax credit designed to compensate for tax paid on corporate profits at the company level, and this is used to satisfy the tax liability of the recipient if they are liable to basic rate tax only. The recipient will then only have an additional liability if liable to higher rate tax on the amount of the dividend plus tax credit. Dividend distributions paid by authorised investment funds are treated in the same way.
Gains from certain life insurance policies are treated as income. Although there is no direct system of tax withholding, insurers are charged corporation tax on returns ultimately attributable to their policyholders. To reflect this, individuals with policies from UK life insurers will be treated as though they have paid basic rate tax on gains they realise from these policies.
Payments under purchase life annuities are subject to deduction of basic rate tax at source on the part of each payment that represents income rather than a return of the original capital used to acquire the annuity. Basic rate tax is deducted from this income by the insurer making the annuity payments and is treated as tax paid by the annuitant.
Income from construction contracts of any individual subcontractor registered for payment under deduction in the Construction Industry Scheme will be subject to a deduction of 20 per cent. on the amount which does not represent the direct cost of materials.
The non resident Landlords Scheme requires UK letting agents to deduct basic rate tax from any rent they collect for non resident landlords from UK property. If non resident landlords do not have UK letting agents acting for them, and the rent is more than £100 a week, their tenants must deduct the tax. When working out the amount to tax the letting agent/tenant can take off deductible expenses.
Property income distributions paid by UK REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) or by Property Authorised Investment Funds (PAIFs) are also subject to deduction of tax at the basic rate.
The taxation of income from trusts, other than bare trusts, depends upon whether the income is discretionary or an immediate entitlement. Discretionary payments from trusts which are not settlor-interested carry a credit at the trust rate. Where there is an income entitlement the trustees account for tax on that income and the beneficiaries receive credit for any tax payable by the trustees, along with any tax deducted at source and tax credits. The rate depends upon the nature of the income, 10 per cent. on dividend type income and basic rate on other income.
The treatment of income from estates is similar.
Where settlors are taxable on income arising to a trust, the trustees account for tax on that income as recipients. The settlor receives credit for any tax payable by the trustees along with tax deducted at source and any tax credits, for example attaching to dividends. The
rate of tax chargeable on the trustees depends firstly on the nature of the trust and then on the nature of the income.
Taxation: Companies
Mr. Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) charged in fines to (a) partnerships and (b) companies who (i) were fined for not filing their tax returns with HMRC by 31 January 2009 and (ii) were registered as a partnership for the purpose of receiving their unique taxpayer reference from 1 October 2008; [317355]
(2) how much HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) charged in fines to (a) partnerships and (b) companies who were fined for not filing their tax returns with HMRC by 31 January 2010 and were registered as a partnership for the purpose of receiving their unique taxpayer reference from 1 October 2009. [317368]
Mr. Timms: Any partnership registering after 1 October 2008 and 1 October 2009 would not be required to submit a partnership tax return until 31 January 2010 or 31 January 2011 respectively. Penalties for late 2008-09 returns will start to be issued towards the end of February 2010.
Taxation: Fraud
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer arising from organised fraud in relation to (a) income tax, (b) value added tax, (c) corporation tax, (d) national insurance, (e) tax credits and (f) child benefit in each of the last five years. [317297]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In "Protecting Tax Revenues 2009", published at 2009 pre-Budget report, HMRC estimated that criminal attacks accounted for 12.5 per cent. of the total net tax gap of £40 billion in 2007-08:
Reliable estimates for losses arising from organised fraud in income tax, corporation tax national insurance and child benefit are not available.
Estimates for value added tax losses arising from organised fraud (Missing Trader Intra-Community fraud) for the years 2005-06 to 2008-09 are available in "Measuring Tax Gaps 2009":
HM Revenue and Customs 2008-09 Accounts reported that for tax credits £31.9 million was written off due to organised fraud in 2008-09:
Taxation: Married People
Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the (a) number and (b) proportion of children living in poverty who would benefit from measures to benefit married couples through the tax system. [317963]
Mr. Timms:
The number and proportion of children living in poverty who would benefit depends on the specific measure considered to benefit married couples
through the tax system; and whether all married couples would benefit or just those with children below a certain age. When considering reforms of this type, it is important to take into account that children in lone-parent families face a higher chance of living in relative poverty than children in couple families. The Households Below Average Income 1994/95-2007/08 publication shows that 36 per cent. of children living in lone-parent families fall below the 60 per cent. median income threshold (before housing costs), against 18 per cent. of children in couple families.
Taxation: Medical Equipment
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 14 December 2009, Official Report, columns 856-57W, on taxation: health professions, if he will consider the merits of bringing forward proposals to reduce to zero the rate of value added tax on medical appliances supplied by appliance contractors. [317137]
Mr. Timms: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 14 January 2010, Official Report, column 1137W.
Taxation: Self Assessment
Mr. Duncan Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax gap for individuals in income tax self assessment in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2007-08. [317298]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The latest estimate of the tax gap for individuals in self assessment was published at the 2009 pre-Budget report in "Measuring Tax Gaps 2009", available at:
Valuation
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Valuation Office Agency has spent on the Automated Valuation Model (AVM) for domestic dwellings to date; what the purpose of the AVM for domestic dwellings is; and which databases use (a) AVM technology and (b) data analysed by the AVM system. [317808]
Ian Pearson: From 2003 to 31 January 2010, total expenditure by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) on Automated Valuation Model (AVM) technology, to support a range of its activities associated with domestic property valuation, has amounted to approximately £14 million.
The VOA originally developed AVM technology to support work on the 2007 Council Tax Revaluation in England, which was postponed in 2005, however the technology has since been used to develop a council tax banding support tool to assist with maintenance of current council tax valuation lists.
AVM technology makes use of data drawn from the VOA's digitised database of property records. The database itself does not use AVM technology.
No analysed data are passed from the AVM systems to the VOA's digitised database of property records.
Valuation Office: Databases
Robert Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date the Valuation Office Agency's Geographical Information System is expected to go live in each of the agency's area offices. [317867]
Ian Pearson: The roll-out of the Geographical Information System application to each of the agency's offices is planned to take place over a five-week period commencing in July 2010.
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