§ Mr. Fallonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the commissioners of Customs and Excise will be making and laying before the House the detailed regulations to implement the cash accounting scheme proposed in his Budget statement on 17 March; whether they will differ from the draft placed in the Library in April; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BrookeThe regulations for cash accounting could not be made until the European Community derogation, requested by the Government on 17 March, had been approved. As I told my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey, South-West (Mrs. Bottomley) on 20 July at558W column 74 the Council of Ministers has now agreed to our request for a derogation. The Commissioners of Customs and Excise will be making and laying the necessary regulations during the summer recess, thus ensuring that the cash accounting scheme will be available for use by small businesses from 1 October.
Following consultation with trade and professional bodies, a number of significant changes are being made to the draft regulations which were placed in the Library. These changes, all intended to be beneficial to small businesses wishing to use the cash accounting scheme, will of course be widely publicised when the regulations are laid.