HC Deb 19 April 1999 vol 329 cc425-6W
Mr. Gibb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if it is the Inland Revenue's policy to warn taxpayers that they are likely to issue a section 20 Taxes Management Act 1970 notice in circumstances where a taxpayer appeals against a section 19A Taxes Management Act 1970 notice for information. [80256]

Dawn Primarolo

The powers in section 19A and section 20 Taxes Management Act 1970 are not mutually exclusive. However, the Inland Revenue would not normally issue a notice under section 20 in order to obtain information that they had failed to obtain under section 19A. Very rarely, it might become clear, after the taxpayer had appealed against a section 19A notice, that section 20 was in fact the more appropriate section to use. A notice under section 20 cannot be issued by an inspector unless the taxpayer has failed to take an opportunity to provide the information voluntarily, and may be issued only with the consent of an independent Appeal Commissioner.

Mr. Gibb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Inland Revenue has paid in incorrect tax repayments as a result of processing errors since the introduction of self-assessment. [802591]

Dawn Primarolo

In 1997–98 the Revenue made 2.180 million self assessment repayments and a further 2.812 million in 1998–99, totalling £1.536 billion and £2.431 billion respectively. The Revenue has processes in place designed to ensure that its staff accurately capture information from returns on to their computer systems. It also has processes in place designed specifically to risk assess repayments both before and after they are issued. It has no evidence to suggest that tax was over or under repaid as a result of processing errors in other than a very small number of cases.

Mr. Gibb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what Inland Revenue review process takes place to ensure processing errors are detected. [80258]

Dawn Primarolo

The Inland Revenue carries out various activities in Self Assessment to ensure that processing errors are avoided or detected. These include full training for staff on carrying out processing work, computer validations on the processing of information, reviews by staff to ensure they have captured information correctly, and quality monitoring of processing work after the event.

Mr. Gibb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans the Inland Revenue has to improve the presentation of statements of account for self-assessment purposes. [80257]

Dawn Primarolo

The Inland Revenue has made a number of improvements to the presentation of the statements of account since they were introduced. Further improvements are planned before the next widespread issue of statements of account in January 2000. All improvements are subject to consultation with the main representative bodies, including accountancy bodies, and revised statements are tested for usability with taxpayers before changes are introduced.

Mr. Gibb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of Inland Revenue correspondence from taxpayers is(a) replied to and (b) replied to with a substantive reply within 28 days. [80142]

Dawn Primarolo

The Inland Revenue does not publish its performance against annual targets until appropriate validation and checking of figures has been carried out.

On latest provisional information, the Department is on course to meet its 1998–99 target of 75 per cent. for providing replies to correspondence, which includes correspondence from taxpayers, within 28 days.

In 1997–98 the Inland Revenue dealt with about 85 million items of post. The Department provided a full response within 28 days in 74 per cent. of cases.'

Note:

Figures are for the Inland Revenue's network of local offices which is administered by ten Regional Executive Offices.

Mr. Gibb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the Inland Revenue target for dealing with taxpayers' correspondence; and what is the procedure for opening and logging such correspondence. [80143]

Dawn Primarolo

The Inland Revenue target for dealing with correspondence within 28 calendar days, which includes taxpayers' correspondence, was 75 per cent. in 1998–99.

The target for 1999–2000 is under discussion. The final figure will be included in the Inland Revenue Plan which is expected to be published in May.

The Department has a procedure in place to measure performance against its customer service standard of responding fully to all correspondence within 28 days. The procedure involves offices sampling a representative number of items of correspondence over the year, and monitoring the time taken to provide a full reply to every question or issue raised.

Mr. Gill

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which department of the Inland Revenue is responsible for the collection of form P14. [80584]

Dawn Primarolo

The local tax office is responsible for the collection of forms P14.