HC Deb 24 May 1962 vol 660 cc651-2
10 Mr. J. Wells

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) in respect of how many civil servants and local government officers Inland Revenue forms P.11.D.are completed;

(2) in respect of how many employees in nationalised industries Inland Revenue forms P.11.D. are completed.

Mr. Barber

The legislation in respect of which these forms are issued has never applied to civil servants; nor has it applied to employees of local authorities unless they are wholly or mainly employed for the purposes of a trade carried on by the local authority. In that case, the form is required to be completed, but no information is available as to the number of forms involved.

Information about the number of forms completed in respect of employees of nationalised industries is also not available.

Mr. Wells

Is not my hon. Friend aware that it will cause considerable disturbance among chartered accountants and other persons dealing with Income Tax matters, to learn of this very substantial privilege apparently being given to public employees? There can be no doubt that considerable fringe benefits are enjoyed by members of the nationalised industries. Will my hon. Friend give some further assurance that those fringe benefits will be properly scrutinised for tax purposes, ac they are in the case of private citizens?

Mr. Barber

I think that my hon. Friend misunderstood my Answer. The legislation does apply to the nationalised industries, and the forms have to be filled in by those who are employed by the nationalised industries. Civil servants and local authority employees, other than those concerned with the trading activities of a local authority, are excluded because— and I think that this will be accepted by every hon,member— their expenses payments are more strictly regulated than is generally the case in industry and commerce. Therefore, the ordinary Pay-as-you-Earn machinery is normally sufficient.

Mr. Cleaver

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind the fact that this will give the public the impression that there is another fiddle going on?

Mr. Barber

Whatever impression my hon. Friend may have, I can only say that if he really thinks that this is some sort of fiddle, then he has a totally false impression.