§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax relief has gone to the BES on residential property; and what his estimate is of the BES tax relief on residential property in 1989–90 and 1990–91.
§ Mr. LilleyThe cost of BES tax relief on residential property in 1988–89 is provisionally estimated as £110 million. Costs in 1989–90 and 1990–91 will depend on take-up.
§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what areas of activity have been outlawed from BES investments over the last three years; and how much tax was forgone for ongoing BES investment made in these areas in 1988–89 and 1989–90.
§ Mr. LilleyNearly all trades qualify under the business expansion scheme. A trade does not qualify if it consists to a substantial extent of non-qualifying activities; these are set out in section 297 of the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988. No activities have been added to this list in the past three years.
§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has for each of the years of the existence of BES on the percentage and amount of BES money invested in residential and assured tenancy schemes.
§ Mr. LilleyThe business expansion scheme was extended to include investment in private rented housing in 1988–89 and £350 million was invested. This comprises about 85 per cent. of total BES investment in the year. Information is not available for 1989–90.
§ Mr. Chris SmithTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has for each of the years of the existence of BES of(a) the cost of BES to the Exchequer, (b) the percentage of investments made by high rate taxpayers, (c) the cost to the Exchequer divided into top rate and other taxpayers and (d) the number of net new jobs created as a result of BES.
§ Mr. LilleyThe estimated cost of BES tax relief for 1983–84 to 1989–90 is as follows:
688W
£ million 1983–84 50 1984–85 75 1985–86 85 1986–87 95 1987–88 110 11988–89 130 1 Provisional. A forecast of £60 million for the cost of relief for the business expansion scheme in 1989–90 was published in the Government's expenditure plans, 1990–91 to 1992–93 (chapter 21, reference CM1021, appendix F), but no information is yet available centrally from official sources to provide a reliable estimate of the outturn.
Information is not available on the percentage of investments made by higher rate taxpayers, the cost to the Exchequer divided into top rate and other taxpayers, and the number of net new jobs created as a result of BES.