§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in amending the EEC mutual assistance directive No. R/1123/78 to meet the views expressed by hon. Members in the debate on 15 November 1978.
§ Mr. Peter ReesI have instructed officials to discuss with representatives of other member States a possible amendment to the draft directive to provide that the Commissioners of Customs and Excise or their authorised representative should be the competent authority for the United Kingdom for providing mutual assistance only for questions relating solely to value added tax; and that for all other questions under the directive the competent authority would be the Commissioners of Inland Revenue or their authorised representative. This should ensure that information which may not be in the possession of Inland Revenue is not used for direct tax purposes in other member States.