§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his reply of 7 March,Official Report, column 652, what is the latest year for which the Inland Revenue has collected information on the amounts allowable against tax by the banks; and what was the amount for that year.
§ Mr. LilleyDiscussions between the banks and the Inland Revenue about provisions against Third-world debts allowable for tax for 1987–88 and later years are still going on. Amounts allowed against tax for earlier years were not significant. Estimates of the reduction in mainstream corporation tax receipts for provisions on doubtful sovereign debts are negligible for the years to 1984–85 inclusive, under £50 million, for each of 1985–86 and 1986–87, about £¼ billion for 1987–88, over £½ billion for 1988–89 and about ¼ billion for 1989–90.