§ Mr. Hirstasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 22 May 1985 to the hon. Member for Dumfries (Sir H. Monro) Official Report, columns 472 and 473, what procedure will be followed by the Inland Revenue in assessing to tax the benefit of employer-provided accommodation in Scotland following the recent rating revaluation there; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MooreAs I announced on 22 May, the measure of the value of accommodation provided by reason of employment is in certain circumstances taken to be the property's gross rateable value. The recent rating revaluation in Scotland will mean that gross rateable values in Scotland will be considerably higher than those in England and Wales or Northern Ireland for equivalent properties.
To avoid unfairness as between taxpayers in different parts of the United Kingdom, the Inland Revenue has decided not to follow the practice of assessing the benefit arising on property in Scotland in strict accordance with the recent rating revaluation figures, while the future of rating revaluations is under consideration. Instead, the Inland Revenue will by concession use the existing 1978 figures as the basis of assessment for existing properties for 1985–86 and 1986–87. For 1987–88 and subsequent years and for new properties the Inland Revenue will scale back the 1985 figures by the average increase in rateable values in Scotland between 1978 and 1985 (170 per cent.).
Details of the treatment of employer-provided accommodation will be published in the Board of Inland Revenue's published list of extra-statutory concessions in due course. A copy of the Inland Revenue press release giving full details of the concession will be placed in the Library.