§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the estimated costs in each of the first three years of operation of the office in Leicester being established as a result of the decision to tax incapacity benefit; and if he will define the range of work being undertaken there and give the number of staff employed there. [19284]
§ Sir George YoungAn Inland Revenue tax office, Leicester 4, has been opened to deal with the tax records of claimants in receipt of incapacity benefit who do not have another source of income currently subject to pay-as-you-earn and who therefore have a tax code applied to their benefit by the Benefits Agency.
About 10,000 recipients are expected to have tax deducted by the Benefits Agency. The Leicester office will also maintain records in 1995–96 for around 100,000 claimants who are not expected to have a tax liability for that year, but whose tax position may change in future years.
The office will review the tax codes operated, finalised those claimant's tax liabilities each year, and deal with inquiries. It will also act as a liaison office with the Benefits Agency.
There are presently 34 staff, but the final figure for 1995–96 will be dependent on the number of claimants whose records are handled by that office.
The projected running costs for the first three years of operation are as follows, but are subject to the number of records which are handled by the office and the number of staff employed:
- 1995–96:£593,100
- 1996–97:£788,900
- 1997–98:£963,900