§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the overall cost of the changes in advance corporation tax in his 1997 Budget to public sector-funded pension schemes, broken down between the different schemes. [104624]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithThe information is not available and could be gathered only at disproportionate cost. Over time the abolition of dividend tax credits should be of benefit to anyone investing in business—including pension funds—because it removes an artificial tax bias to pay dividends instead of retaining and reinvesting profits.