HL Deb 28 April 1970 vol 309 cc928-9

2.39 p.m.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether since February 8, 1968, they have found means of drastically checking fraudulent claims for tax relief by immigrants for non-existent dependants, and whether such tax reliefs are still being granted for dependants not living in this country.]

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, for some time now the Inland Revenue have been making more detailed checks on new claimants. There has been no change in the law to exclude relief for dependants resident overseas.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, did not the noble Lord tell me two years ago that it was virtually impossible—those were not his exact words—for the Inland Revenue to check on dependants who were not in this country and that that was one of the questions that was going to be looked at? If it is virtually impossible to find out whether the information they receive is correct, why do not Her Majesty's Government stop it?

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, I am not sure what the noble Lord means. Stop what?

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, stop granting tax relief to dependants who are not in this country.

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, that suggestion was examined but it was found impossible to apply it without penalising the innocent or having quite blatant differentiation between coloured and other immigrants. That solution is not possible. It has been found possible to apply further tests and I hope that to some extent the problem is contained. But I would add, since I have just answered another Question, that this form of tax evasion does not help the kind of integration we are seeking to achieve.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, surely this is breaking the law. This is not a' question of integration or of no integration. Is this not purely a question of breaking the law?

LORD BESWICK

Yes, my Lords, but in the case of the other Question it is a matter of enforcing the law. To the extent that it is possible to find out about misrepresentation in the completing of tax returns, the law has been enforced.

LORD FRASER OF LONSDALE

My Lords, could not the onus of proof be left on the claimant?

LORD BESWICK

My Lords, that is one suggestion that I will ensure is considered again.