§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to increase the take-up of working families tax credit; and if he will make a statement about take-up targets and measures for the proposed(a) integrated child credit and (b) working tax credit. [48641]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 15 April 2002]: The number of working families with children benefiting from WFTC continues to increase. At November 2001 nearly 1.3 million families with children were benefiting from the working families' tax credit, over 450,000 more families than benefited from family credit at its peak. The child tax credit and working tax credit will be introduced from April 2003 and around six million families are expected to benefit from one or both of the new tax credits.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the rate of take-up for each of the tax credits available in(a) 2000–01 and (b) 2001–02; and if he will estimate the (i) numbers and (ii) values of unclaimed tax credits. [52128]
§ Dawn PrimaroloNo reliable estimate of the take-up of the working families tax credit can be attempted until the Family Resources Survey for 2001–02 is analysed.
The children's tax credit (CTC) started in 2001–02. Many claims for the 2001–02 CTC will be made after the end of that year, including via self-assessment, and so no estimate of the take-up rate is available.