§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many incorrect tax demands have been issued by the Inland Revenue since 20 December 1998. [67908]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 27 January 1999]: The Inland Revenue issues taxpayers with Statements of Account (not demands) which are a statement of the individual's tax position and include a payslip to enable the taxpayer to make payment if one is due.
The latest issue comprised 3.4 million statements. The Inland Revenue are aware that 870,000 of those statements contained superfluous information which could have misled taxpayers into making a wrong payment.
The Inland Revenue has issued letters of explanation and apology to all affected taxpayers in time to alert them before payment became due.