§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will seek to exempt war widows from tax on the benefit from a child in a workplace nursery;
(2) how many individuals have been the subject of tax claims to date arising from a child in a workplace nursery; and how many of these have been (a) male and (b) female;
(3) how many employers to date have been approached by the Inland Revenue for details of their workplace nurseries, for taxation purposes;
(4) when the Board of Inland Revenue specifically decided to tax the benefit of workplace nurseries; when was the first occasion that a local tax office issued a tax claim on the benefit of a workplace nursery; and why this claim was issued;
(5) what is his estimate of the amount of tax to be collected each year through the taxation of the benefit of children in workplace nurseries.
§ Mr. MooreBenefits in kind are a form of remuneration and it would not be appropriate to exempt a specific section of the community from tax on them. The benefit of an employer-subsidised nursery place, in common with other benefits in kind, has been taxable in the hands of directors and certain employees (currently those earning at a rate of £8,500 a year or more) since legislation was first introduced by the Labour Government in 1948. It is the employer's duty to return details of all benefits provided which are subject to tax to the Inland Revenue. The Inland Revenue taxes benefits as they are returned, but details of individual assessments or codings are not kept centrally. Nevertheless, in view of the uncertainty caused in the past by advice given in an Equal142W Opportunities Commission manual and in some editions of the Which? Tax Saving Guide, the Board of Inland Revenue announced on 24 April 1985 that tax would not be sought on this particular benefit for periods before 6 April 1985 and that any tax already collected would be repaid.
I regret that because this benefit is thought to be provided for only a small number of employees the detailed statistical information requested on the number of employers and employees concerned is not held centrally and it is therefore not possible to make a firm estimate of the tax yield.
§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he intends to seek to create any categories of whole or partial exception from liability to tax on the benefit from a child in a workplace nursery.
§ Mr. MooreNo. Under existing law, employees earning at a rate of less than £8,500 a year (including the value of the benefit) are not subject to tax on the benefit of an employer-subsidised nursery place unless the employer provides the benefit by way of vouchers or meets costs directly incurred, and due from, the employee.