§ Mr. CorbettTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date the Inland Revenue ceased the practice of providing reply-paid envelopes for the return of tax forms; and whether he will estimate the savings to be made to the revenue in a 12-month period.
§ Mr. Norman LamontI refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Smith) on 29 January 1988 at column420. The Inland Revenue ceased, from 5 April 1988, to issue reply-paid envelopes for the return of income tax returns and other correspondence except where payment of tax is being requested (where the present first-class reply service will remain unchanged) and in a few other special circumstances.
The savings to the revenue in the 12 months to April 1989 are estimated to be in excess of £2.0 million.