§ Mr. BowisTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how he intends to ensure that further education colleges will not lose financially as a result of the administration and cash flow costs of operating the system of tax relief for vocational training on behalf of the Inland Revenue.
§ Mr. MaudeThe Government's aim in providing that the new tax relief for vocational training should be given at source is to ensure that it will be available to trainees as quickly and as widely as possible. The Government accept that administering the relief will mean some extra work for training organisations. Additional costs will be offset to the extent that the relief encourages more people to train, hence generating more income.
The intention is, however, that the additional cost should be kept to a minimum and to that end the Inland Revenue is currently considering a number of important improvements to the original proposals in the light of responses to their recent consultative paper. The arrangements will be published in regulations later this year.
Mr. BowlsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether tax relief for vocational training applies(a) to payments made by an individual for his or her training, (b) to payments made by a parent or other person or organisation on behalf of an individual for his or her training and (c) to payments made by an individual for his or her training but paid to the individual by a parent or other person or organisation.
§ Mr. MaudeTax relief for vocational training will apply to payments made by individuals in connection with their 209W own training. This will include the situation where an individual pays for the training out of funds provided by another person or organisation, but not where that other person or organisation makes the payment directly on behalf of the individual.