§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Maldon, Official Report, 20 November 1978, c. 481, if he will list with appropriate references all of those cases which have been before value added tax tribunals concerning the records of traders on special schemes since 1973.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe list is as follows:
Jerry Moss LEE 73/46 C. G. Todd LEE 74/31 D. Pody LON 75/124 F. Jackson MAN 75/59 Iori Jones CAR 75/186 L. F. Hayes BIR 75/99 Charles Oliver Enterprises MAN 76/67 Colin Parker MAN 76/54 Dennis Thomas CAR 76/102 Dennis Edward Chappell MAN 76/155 Barry Hallam trading as APX Car Sales MAN 76/136 Henry Kitchen LON 77/66 Thornley Deane CAR 77/10 Hughes Bros. CAR 77/155 P. L. Bailey MAN 77/163 J. H. Corbitt MAN 76/185 D. H. Miller LON 77/218 William Edwin Mead CAR 77/344 Thomas Leonard Penfold LON 77/316 E. J. Parish LON 77/283 Michael Callaghan MAN 77/187 Jack Smith trading as Morecambe Used Car Centre MAN 77/243 Bertram Alfred Ower CAR 77/278 L. W. and P. E. Kirkwood MAN 77/135 J. J. Woodward LON 77/247 Phillip Spencer Garbrielson CAR 77/222 Michael Ruggieri LON 78/127 Auto Continental LON 78/75 Bruce Ian Randall Davidson LON 78/44
§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Maldon, Official Report, 20 November 1978, c. 480–1. whether a trader on a value added tax special scheme can appeal to a value added tax tribunal on an issue relating to the manner in which the records of the business are kept.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonWhether a particular issue falls within the scope of section 40(1) of the Finance Act 1972, and72W hence can be the subject of an appeal to a value added tax tribunal, is a matter to be determined by the tribunal or by a higher court on appeal. The Court of Appeal has recently held that case raising issues of the type specified in the question can be heard by the tribunal.
§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish details of the simplification of procedures for the administration of value added tax for small firms; and if he will give the definition of small firm as used by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI assume that the hon. Member is referring to measures of simplification introduced as part of the review of value added tax in 1977–1978 and announced during last year's Budget debates. Those measures, which were designed to help small firms especially, are described in section IV of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise report on the review—Cmnd 7415, December 1978. Although for some specific VAT purposes smallness is related to turnover, there is no general definition of small firm in use by Customs and Excise.
§ Mr. Newtonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from trade bodies within the construction industry and elsewhere concerning value added tax repayments by Customs and Excise and the effects of the present strike by operators at the Customs computer centre in Southend; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonCustoms and Excise have received representations about the effects on repayments of VAT of industrial action by operators of the departmental computers at Southend on behalf of the National Federation of Building Trades Employers, the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, the Committee of Associations of Specialist Engineering Contractors, the Federation of Master Builders and the National Pharmaceutical Association.
The departmental press notice of 26 February states that the Commissioners regret that repayments of VAT claimed on VAT returns cannot be paid whilst the computer is not working. All outstanding 73W claims will be paid as soon as possible when conditions return to normal.
§ Mr. Newtonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total number of repayment traders in the construction industry; and what is the total amount of value added tax repaid to such traders by Customs and Excise, according to the latest available figures or estimates.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThere are about 83,000 repayment traders in the construction industry who received repayments of about £400 million in the financial year 1977–78.