§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the revenue raised by the March 1998 Budget decision to abolish advanced corporation tax and introduce quarterly payments of corporation tax, for each year from 1998–99 to 2005–06; and if he will make a statement. [130147]
§ Dawn PrimaroloEstimates of the impact on the Exchequer of the abolition of ACT and introduction of quarterly instatement payments were quoted in the 1998 Budget report.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the cost of the changes to the statutory corporation tax deduction for share schemes announced in the Pre-Budget Report November 2002; what the purpose is of the changes; and if he will make a statement. [130234]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe provision to introduce a statutory corporation tax relief for employee share acquisition announced in the November 2002 Pre-Budget Report was brought into effect by Schedule 23 of Finance Act 2003. The estimate of exchequer costs to provide the statutory relief is in the Final Regulatory Impact Assessment published on the 10 April 2003 and remain unchanged, growing to around £95 million by 2007–08. The purpose of the statutory relief is to encourage and enable companies to set-up or expand employee share schemes by removing the need for complex arrangements solely to obtain a CT deduction. It levels the playing field between the use of cash and equity as remuneration and provides a modern, simple and fair system. It gives certainty to companies in terms of timing and amount of relief, reduces administration and compliance costs.