HC Deb 15 January 2002 vol 378 cc242-3W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax was remitted or written off as irrecoverable in each of the last four years; and what was the number of taxpayers for whom the ground for non-payment was that they(a) had gone abroad or were untraceable, (b) were insolvent and (c) were suffering hardship. [26229]

Dawn Primarolo

The tables show, for the years 1997 to 2000, the latest year available, the number of cases and amounts involved where tax was classed as irrecoverable or was written off because the taxpayer was(a) untraceable or had moved abroad, (b) was insolvent, (c) was suffering hardship.

Table a: Taxpayer untraceable or moved abroad
Income Tax Capital Gains Tax
Year £ Cases £ Cases
1997 46,774,642.87 44,750 2,039,899.95 305
1998 37,244,886.15 27,503 3,162,842.33 218
1999 29,570,122.45 18,936 2,047,221.60 146
2000 23,469,179.61 17,923 1,715,561.20 167

Table b: Taxpayer insolvent
Income Tax Capital Gains Tax
Year £ Cases £ Cases
1997 306,630,972.66 99,813 10,352,690.11 1,030
1998 402,816,473.26 90,610 17,393,163.47 900
1999 358,843,664.48 82,327 10,764,638.35 683
2000 266,949,276.47 80,020 2,449,982.29 349

Table c: Taxpayer suffering hardship
Income Tax Capital Gains Tax
Year £ Cases £ Cases
1997 2,084,183.53 3,660 0.00 0
1998 2,327,543.69 6,333 71,494.40 12
1999 2,190,979.15 3,404 2,492.40 1
2000 2,927,225.17 3,172 4,930.00 1