§ Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration had been given at the time of the 1985 Budget to proposals for transitional arrangements to obtain the tax subject to the Woolwich case judgment and to clause 50 of the Finance Bill; when the intention was first made public; and in which way.
§ Mr. MaplesThe 1985 Budget announcement followed confidential discussions between the Inland Revenue and the Building Societies Association over a period of some months, about the building societies' tax scheme as a whole, including the transitional arrangements required on the changeover from an annual to a quarterly accounting system in line with that for banks. A Budget day press release mentioned the need for transitional provisions to deal with the changeover.