§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what assessment he has made of the level of staff required to run an advance clearance department at the Inland Revenue in the event of a general tax anti-avoidance provision being implemented; and what estimate he has made of the annual operating costs of such a department; [24848]
(2) how many applications there were under each of the advance clearance procedures in tax legislation for each year since 1990; [24876]
(3) what representations his Department has received (a) in favour and (b) against a general tax anti-avoidance provision; [24849]
(4) if he will list those provisions in tax legislation which currently provide for an advance clearance procedure; [24847]
157W(5) how many staff at the Inland Revenue work on advance clearance procedures; and what was the cost of employing such staff in each of the last three years. [24877]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answers 23 January 1998]: The statutory advance clearance procedures for which details are available of the number of applications, are as follows:
s. 138 Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 s. 215 Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 s. 225 Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 s. 707 Income and Corporation Taxes Act 19881 1990 2,686 209 1,206 4,164 1991 2,285 190 1,224 3,700 1992 2,054 160 1,348 3,470 1993 2,077 185 1,216 3,567 1994 2,254 191 1,399 3,903 1995 2,458 227 1,565 4,232 1996 2,744 227 1,756 4,642 1997 3,036 273 1,958 5,500 1 These figures include repeat applications and letters supplying information in support of previous applications. It is not possible to give precise staff and cost figures for these clearances, as some of the staff involved have other duties, but approximately 15 staff units are presently employed on this clearance work at an approximate pay-bill cost of £500,000 per annum.
In response to the hon. Gentlemen's questions about representations received concerning a general anti-avoidance rule, I would refer him to the answer given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Mr. Hawkins) on 15 January 1998, Official Report, column 305.
It is too early for an assessment to be made of the staffing needs and operating costs of any unit dealing with advance clearances.