HC Deb 07 February 2002 vol 379 cc1136-8W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a breakdown of his estimate in paragraph 11 of his summary of responses to the New Tax Credit Consultation (November 2001) of childless people in households with someone in work with household income below 60 per cent. of the median, between(a) childless couples, (b) single people over 25 years of age working 30 hours per week or more and (c) other single people. [32611]

Dawn Primarolo

[holding answer 1 February 2002]: There are around 1 million single people or people in childless couples living in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of the median (after housing costs) who are working 16 hours or more a week. Around half of these are over 25 years of age and working 30 hours or more a week.

Mr. Webb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out the basis for his calculation on replacement rates for childless couples, reported in paragraph 9 of his summary of responses to the New Tax Credit Consultation (November 2001); and if he will provide separate estimates for(a) renters and (b) homebuyers with mortgages. [32612]

Dawn Primarolo

The replacement rates referred to are based on a couple with someone working 35 hours a week at £5 an hour. Using this assumption, a couple without children paying rent is around £20 a week better off in full-time work than on benefit. A couple without children with a mortgage is around £55 a week better off in work than on benefit, (assuming they are not receiving any income support to cover mortgage interest). These gains to work correspond to replacement ratios before housing costs of 88 per cent. for the couple paying rent and 63 per cent. for the couple with a mortgage.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many claims for working families tax credit and disabled persons tax credit have been(a) investigated, (b) dealt with by way of penalty or caution,(c) made the subject of a prosecution and (d) made the subject of a prosecution or conviction in each year since the WFTC and DPTC commenced. [25102]

Dawn Primarolo

The table gives the information requested on applications for WFTC and DPTC since the start of these tax credits in October 1999.

Period WFTC DPTC
(a) Number of applications investigated
October 1999 to March 2000 3,893 110
April 2000 to March 2001 28,930 644
April 2001 to December 2001 14,361 657
Total 47,184 1,411
(b) Number dealt with by Penalty
October 1999 to September 2000 106 1
October 2000 to September 2001 401 8
October 2001 to December 2001 128 1
Total 6335 10
(c) and (d) Number of prosecutions
October 1999 to March 2000 0 0
April 2000 to March 2001 12 0
April 2001 to December 2001 16 0
Total 28 0

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidance he has given to the Inland Revenue in respect of their compliance work on tax credits. [25101]

Dawn Primarolo

The Inland Revenue approaches non-compliance relating to tax credits very seriously. It has issued extensive guidance to staff carrying out tax credit compliance work on individual applications and on employers who pay tax credits through the payroll.

The principal guidance on tax credit compliance for Inland Revenue officers is the Applicant Compliance Guide. This Guide has been published and the text is available to the public at all Inland Revenue inquiry centres. Guidance on tax credit aspects of employer compliance is being consolidated in an updated Employer Compliance Handbook. This will be published on completion. Specialist compliance sections within the Tax Credit Office and at Special Compliance Office operate under internal guidance not available to the public.

Inland Revenue officers carry out tax credit applicant compliance and employer compliance work in accordance with the relevant Codes of Practice. A Code of Practice is issued at the opening of an inquiry, explaining why the Inland Revenue inquires into some cases and what happens during an inquiry. It also sets out the rights and responsibilities of both the customer and the Inland Revenue.

Mr. Clappison

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many appeals have been made to the High Court and the Court of Session under the provisions of(a) subparagraph (5) of paragraph 3 and (b) subparagraph (4) of paragraph 4 of the Tax Credits Act 1999 in each year since the commencement of the Act. [25983]

Dawn Primarolo

From the information available, to date there have been no appeals to the High Court and the Court of Session under the provisions of Schedule 4 of the Tax Credits Act 1999 following Inland Revenue penalty proceedings.