Treasury clueless on millionaire numbers
The Treasury have formally claimed in the Commons to have no idea how many millionaires live in Britain - let alone have any specific knowledge about how many actually pay tax.
Paymaster general Dawn Primarolo claimed that information on tax liabilities, analysed by total wealth of living individuals, is simply not available.
Replying to a question from Newport West Labour MP Paul Flynn, she said a declaration of total assets is only required for inheritance tax purposes after someone has died.
Last week in Commons, the Treasury side stepped a demand for details of special deals agreed between the Inland Revenue and rich taxpayers allowing them to make fixed payments in lieu of filing normal tax returns.
Primarolo insisted there had only been ‘a small number’ of such agreements entered into at various dates since 1988 and that only three were made since the start of 1997, none of which ‘are now considered current’.
