§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the number of Inland Revenue tax investigations settled(a) with and (b) without prosecution for tax recovered between (i) £0.1 million and £0.5 million, (ii) £0.5 million and £1.0 million and (c) over £1.0 million from 1979 to the most recent year available.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 8 May 19891: (a). No records are kept of the total amounts of tax recovered from investigations which result in prosecution. However, the numbers of prosecutions categorised by the amounts of tax in respect of the matters brought before the court, were:
1979 1988–89 100,000–500,000 3 6 500,001–1,000,000 — 1 over 1,000,000 — — Figures for intervening years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
(b). The Inland Revenue keeps records of total settlements only (that is, tax plus interest penalties where appropriate). Details of settlements categorised by amounts of tax alone could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in theOfficial Report the numbers of staff currently in post in the Inland Revenue division dealing with schedule D evasion.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[holding answer 8 May 1989]: The number of Inland Revenue staff, expressed as full-time units, employed in dealing with Schedule D evasion for the year ended 31 March 1989 is 2,135.