§ Brian CotterTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses employing(a) less than 50 staff and (b) between 50 and 249 staff have filed their employer's end of year returns electronically for each year since 2000. [147602]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe Inland Revenue does not have this information.
§ Brian CotterTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his Department's plan to bring forward regulations for the introduction of mandatory electronic filing of employers' end of year returns. [147608]
§ Dawn PrimaroloFollowing consultation two Statutory Instruments (SI 2003/2494 and SI 2003/2495) were laid on 29 September 2003 and came into force on 20 October. The first of these requires the e-filing of an employer's end of year PAYE return from May 2005 where the employer has 250 or more employees, and from May 2006 where the employer has between 50 and 249 employees. The second makes e-filing incentives available to employers with fewer than 50 employees over the five years from the 2004–05 tax year. In accordance with these regulations, the Inland Revenue has sent a letter to every employer on their database setting out the employer size band for 2004–05 and giving guidance about e-filing options.