§ Mr. Goodhartasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what changes there have been in the checks made on claims for personal reliefs from income tax in respect of children resident overseas since the publication of the Treasury Minute of 4th November 1968, which was commented on in the Third Report from the Committee of Public Accounts Session 1967–68;
(2) what regular detailed checks, similar to the pilot scheme started in April 1966, have been made since that date to check upon false claims for personal reliefs from income tax made for children resident overseas;
(3) what are the detailed checks on false claims for personal reliefs from income tax for children resident overseas, which were introduced following the Third Report from the Committee of Public Accounts Session 1967–68 which were referred to in the Treasury Minute of 4th November 1968.
§ Mr. Denzil Davies,pursuant to his replies [Official Report, 3rd August 1976; Vol. 916, c.684–6],gave the following information:
In 1968 a new procedure was introduced for checking claims for personal allowances for dependants overseas. There have been no changes of substance since then. This procedure consists of asking for documentary proof of the title to the allowances claimed. The number of new cases where certificates in support of claims for overseas dependants are examined by the Inland Revenue is at present about 9,000 a year and in each case there may be several certificates. Nearly one-third of these cases involve some false certificates.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that there are approximately 500,000 829W children overseas for whom tax relief is being claimed by residents in Great Britain; to what extent he takes action to ensure that these are legitimate and not false claims; what has been the number of claims for wives and other dependants for any stated period; and what action is taken to check the authenticity of these claims.
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesI am aware of this figure. There is no record of the number of wives and other dependants overseas for whom personal allowances are claimed. As regards the checks applied to claims for personal allowances for dependants overseas, I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer I have given today to the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mr. Goodhart).