§ Mr. Urwinasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what recent evidence he has received concerning the use by labour-only subcontractors of bogus income tax exemption certificates; and what action he has taken in such cases;
(2) on how many occasions his Department has instituted legal proceedings for evasion of income tax payments by labour-only subcontractors in each of the past three years; what were the gross amounts involved; and in how many cases the use of bogus tax exemption certificates figured.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe Inland Revenue prosecuted two people, both of whom were convicted, in 1972–73, 23 people, 20 of whom were convicted, in 1973–74, and 76 people, 69 of whom were convicted, in 1974–75, for offences in connection with Sections 29 and 30 of the Finance Act 1971. These figures do not include prosecutions conducted by the police. The details for which my hon. Friend asks have not been recorded, but the extensive use of bogus documents was one of the considerations leading to the new provisions relating to subcontractors in the current Finance Bill, under which existing certificates will be withdrawn and replaced by an entirely new type of secure document which is intended to stop the abuse.