§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the Exchequer of the rent-a-room scheme for each year since the introduction of the scheme. [88820]
§ Dawn PrimaroloIt is estimated that the annual value of the rent-a-room relief is of the order of £20 million.
No more precise estimates are available.
§ Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake a pilot survey in three different tax districts including West Cumbria into the actual cost to the Exchequer in terms of lost revenue arising from the rent-a-room scheme. [88821]
§ Dawn PrimaroloMost of the Inland Revenue's information on people's incomes and tax affairs arrives via tax returns, to which access for analysis is already available on a sample basis. Little extra information is held by tax districts. Nor do tax districts have any means of knowing which people not completing tax returns are likely to be taking advantage of the relief.