§ Lord McNairasked Her Majesty's Government:
(i) how much did the Customs and Excise refund to creditors, and
(ii) what was the average delay between the payment by the creditor to the Customs and Excise of the original VAT and the subsequent refund of the VAT;
under the provisions for VAT relief on bad debts on voluntary liquidations of companies for the financial year 1984–85 or for the latest year for which figures are available.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Arts (The Earl of Gowrie)The cost of VAT bad debt relief in the financial year ended at 31st March 1985 is estimated to be £50 million.
There are no means of separating claims arising in voluntary liquidations from those arising out of other forms of formal insolvency, and no information is available for arriving at an average period of delay.