§ Mr. Barnettasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) in the latest year for which the information is available, what was the number of close trading companies;
(2) how many close trading companies were covered by the survey carried out by his Department in the year ended 355W 30th June, 1970; if he will give a breakdown of the issued share capital and profits before tax; and if he will make a statement;
(3) on the basis of his review of close trading companies covering the year ended 30th June, 1970, what is his estimate of the total number of close trading companies paying dividends and of the total of those dividends;
(4) on the basis of his review of close trading companies covering the year ended 30th June, 1970, what is his estimate of numbers of companies with profits in the ranges nil, nil to £100, £100-£1,500, £1,50045,000, £5,000-£9,000, £9,000-£15,000, and above £15,000, respectively.
§ Mr. Patrick JenkinThe review carried out by the Inland Revenue was designed to yield information only about companies subject to shortfall, and does not provide an adequate basis for all the information which the hon. Member seeks. About 25,000 close trading companies were included in the review; their total distributable income—after tax—amounted to £250 million: information about their issued share capital is not available. For the year ended 31st October, 1970, the total number of close companies was estimated to be approximately 215,000 but it is not known how many of these were trading companies.