§ Mr. Hickmetasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is now in a position to make a statement about the arrangements for non-resident individuals in connection with the composite rate scheme for bank interest introduced by the Finance Act 1984.
§ Mr. Ian StewartYes. The new scheme provides for the exclusion from the composite rate tax arrangements of deposits held by individuals who are not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, provided the deposit taker holds an appropriate declaration, signed either by the nonresident beneficially entitled to the interest, or by a person receiving the interest on his behalf, certifying that the individual concerned is not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom and that a relevant change in residence status will be notified to the deposit taker.
It has become clear, in the light of recent discussions with the banks, that the form and content of these declarations need to be more precisely defined both to ensure effective compliance and in the interest of efficient implementation of the scheme. We therefore propose to introduce measures this year to facilitate this. Details will be given in an Inland Revenue press release which, with my authority, it is issuing later today.