Written Answers
15 MAY 1978
67
of the term of ožce of the present Gover- nor of Hong Kong, he sought the agree- ment of the Civil Service unions.
Mr. Luard: No.
Mr. Parry asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, following the retirement of the Com- missioner of the Royal Hong Kong Police, consideration has been given to the appointment of a serving senior officer of the British Army.
Mr. Luard: The Commissioner of the Royal Hong Kong Police has not retired. When he does, my right hon. Friend will, after receiving the Governor's recommen- dations, consider all qualified candidates before appointing his successor.
Falkland Islands
Mr. Luce asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs since what date he has been aware of the occupation of Southern Thule Island in the Falkland Dependencies by some 40 Argentinians
Mr. Rowlands: We first knew of the gentine presence on Thule island in December 1976 and protested at that time. We have recently verified renewed Argentine activity on the island and have made further protests. We are pursuing
the maiter.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Tax Allowances (False Claims) Mr. Arthur Lewis asked the Chancel- lor of the Excheqeuer/(1), in view of the fact that in the Pubijck Accounts Commit- tee report 1968 tails were submitted showing that over half of the claims for tax reliefs by persons from the Indian sub-continent were false, and that during the last two fears at least one-third of such claims have been proved false, what action he has taken or intends taking to stop these practices.
Mr. Robert Sheldon : Following the re- port to which my hon. Friend refers the Inland Revenue introduced a more thor/ugh system for the verification of ney claims in respect of dependants resi- det overseas, as described in the reply 18th April to the hon. Member for Noricik. North (Mr. Howell). Where, on
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Written Answers
examination, evidence of entitlement is not forthcoming the relief is not pormally granted.
Mr. Arthur Lewis asked the Chancel- lor of the Excheqeuer what were the total amounts of claims for personal tax allow- ances by persons from the Indian sub- continent granted and refused in each of the years from 1968; and how much in sterling has beep the shortfall to the Treasury by these false claims.
Mr. Robert Sheldon: I regret that the the information requested in the first part of my hon. Friend's Question is not available On the second point, I refer my hon/Friend to my reply of 10th May 1977 the hon. Member for Aberdeen, South (Mr. Sproat).--[Vol. 931, c. 459.)
Corporation Tax
Mr. Lee asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the amounts of corporation tax written-off as irrecoverable in the years 1975, 1976 and 1977; and what criteria are applied by his Department when any decision is made not to persevere with the collection of assessed corporation tax.
Mr. Denzil Davies: Tax is written off as irrecoverable when it remains unpaid after all the possibilities of collection action have been exhausted. The total corporation tax so written off for the accounting years 1975 and 1976 was £2.2 million and £3-9/million; the cor- responding figure for the accounting year 1977 is estimated to be about £6·7 mil- lion. In the great majority of cases the insolvency of the company was the reason for corporation tax being irrecoverable. ·
Value Added Tax
Mr. Maurice Macmillan asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many fewer civil servants would be needed were the present 8 per cent. and 124 per cent. rates of VAT to be replaced by a single rate at 10 per cent. or at 12 per cent.
Mr./Robert Sheldon: The number of staff jh Her Majesty's Customs and Excise dealing with the present 124 per cent. rate of VAT cannot be isolated from these dealing with the administration of VAT as a whole, but it has been esti- mated that the effort of man years volved is equivalent to about 250 staff.