§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what factors the Inland Revenue takes into account when deciding whether to allow an individual to make an agreed lump sum payment in lieu of submitting a tax return; [152506]
(2) pursuant to his reply of 26 February 2001, Official Report, column 510W, on lump sum tax payments, in how many of the agreements entered into the initiative came from (a) the Inland Revenue and (b) the taxpayer; [152507]
(3) pursuant to his reply of 26 February 2001, Official Report, column 510W, on lump sum tax payments, how many agreements were entered into in each year since 1988; and how many were in respect of the same individual. [152500]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe agreements in question do not absolve individuals from their obligations to file tax returns. They establish the tax liability or tax treatment of certain income or gains for future years, which must then be reflected in the returns for those years. The circumstances in which these agreements have been made are varied. Typically they agree a practical basis for taxing future income or gains where there would otherwise be particular difficulties in establishing an exact figure.
Most of the agreements currently in existence were entered into in the periods 1988–91 and 1995–97.