§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the measures taken by the Government since entering office to reduce the amount of money and number of people involved in the administration of tax.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 6 July 1981]: Substantial reductions in the staff and other costs of the two Departments principally concerned with the administration of tax have been achieved by a combination of changes in tax policy and many different improvements in administrative efficiency. Examples of the former are the abolition of the lower rate band of income tax and the raising of the threshold for capital transfer tax in the Finance Act 1980. Examples of the latter are the streamlining of PAYE procedure when a taxpayer changes jobs and of the arrangements for telling employers the PAYE codes to use for their employees; simplification of record keeping by inspectors of taxes dealing with business accounts; and a more selective application of controls on VAT traders and those dealing with goods liable to excise duties.