§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases have been detected since 1979 of employers deducting moneys from employees in respect of PAYE and then not passing such payments to the Inland Revenue: and how many prosecutions ensued.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 11 February 1988]: Where amounts of PAYE deducted have been properly reported to the Inland Revenue by employers but not paid, debt recovery procedures are instituted. Prosecution does not occur in these cases.
In 1986–87 — the first year for which figures are available — there were 852 detected cases in which deductions made from employees' earnings were not reported to the Revenue. In many of these cases the omissions were simply errors. In cases of negligence or fraud the normal consequence would be money penalties provided for in the Taxes Act. Only in very few instances would the question of criminal proceedings arise. The figures for such proceedings are not recorded separately, and could not be provided except at undue cost.
§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been expended by his Department on crediting employees with PAYE deductions which had been made by employees but not subsequently passed on to the Inland Revenue..
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 11 February 1988]: Employees are given credit for all PAYE deductions actually made, whether paid over to the Inland Revenue or not. The total amount of such deductions written off as irrecoverable between 1 November 1979 and 31 October 1986 was £214.7 million.