§ Mr. Litterickasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the value of tax allowances made to each oil company operating in the North Sea, for each of the last five complete years for which this information is available.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThis information is not available. In any case, I could not give figures for each company because the Inland Revenue cannot disclose information about the tax liabilities of particular companies. I would remind my hon. Friend that allowances in respect of expenditure outside the North Sea are not deductible in calculating the corporation tax on North Sea profits because of the "ring fence" provisions of the Oil Taxation Act.