§ Mr. Ernie Rossasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if his Department makes any independent check of the accuracy of the information on the sale price of North Sea oil at the point of sale, which is provided by the oil industry.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 22 January 1981, c. 233]: Yes. The sale price of North Sea oil is only relevant in the case of oil sold at arm's length. It is the Inland Revenue's general practice to seek documentary evidence relating to all transactions returned by companies as sales at arms length. This serves as a check both that the sale satisfies the statutory criteria for an arm's length sale, and that the sale price has been correctly returned.