§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the cost of the March 1999 Budget decision to remove the income tax charge on mobile phones for each year from 1999–2000 to 2004–05; and if he will make a statement. [130136]
§ Dawn PrimaroloLatest figures for the income tax liability on private use of employer provided mobile phones for the two years before the charge was removed are £30 million for 1997–98 rising to £40 million for 1998–99. These figures are based on information supplied by employers on P11D returns after the end of those years. With effect from 1999–2000, when the charge was removed, employers no longer had to report this information and so no updated estimates, following those given in the 1999 Financial Statement and Budget Report, have been made.