§ Mr. Sproatasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that persons not in possession of a sub-contractor tax-certificate because of previous absence abroad for three years will not be prevented from working as self-employed building workers.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe purpose of a tax certificate is simply to enable contractors to know whether or not to deduct tax when paying sub-contractors. There is no rule which prevents a contractor from engaging a sub-contractor who has newly arrived from abroad and who does 369W not hold a certificate—though the contractor must, of course, deduct tax from any payments he makes. This has been made absolutely clear in the explanatory material about the new scheme which the Inland Revenue has recently issued to all contractors in the industry.