§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has as to how British Customs procedures, on trains and elsewhere, differ from those of other European Economic Community countries; and what proposals there are for change.
§ Mr. Lawson[holding answer 6 July 1988]: Detailed information is not readily available about how Customs
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§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 5 July 1988]: Provisional estimates for the United Kingdom are given in the table. These are based on projections to 1988–89 of information in the 1985–86 survey of personal incomes and the 1985 family expenditure survey. The estimates include mortgages formerly under the option mortgage scheme which are now subsumed under MIRAS.
schemes, (e) exemption of investment income from pension funds and (f) exemption of lump-sum payments for pension funds.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 5 July 1988]: The available information is as follows. Figures for 1983–84 onwards for mortgage interest relief include the cost of relief given to non-taxpayers.
procedures here differ from those of other EC countries, but I understand that Customs checks are carried out on. board some trains crossing the frontiers of certain other member states.
Section 12 of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987 provides for Customs and immigration checks to be undertaken on board international trains going beyond London, subject to adequate facilities being provided. Discussions are at present taking place with British Rail about the facilities that would be required.