Written question asked by Justine Greening (Conservative) on Monday, 27 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 October 2008. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Monday, 3 November 2008 on behalf of the Treasury.

Revenue and Customs: Databases

Question: (3) what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK taxpayers' personal detail entries on HM Revenue and Customs' Taxpayer Business System that contained inaccurate information in each of the last four years;

Answer: The Taxpayer Business Service is not a database. It is a method of accessing and amending details held elsewhere and does not itself hold personal data.The TBS system allows records held in the central frameworks database to be viewed and amended. These frameworks hold personal details of approximately 47 million taxpayers and non-taxpayers. At any point in time, 3 to 3.5 million records for individuals held on frameworks are inaccurate.Information relating to the number of complaints about the state of the frameworks databases is not recorded. The cost of correcting database entries is not recorded separately.Staff are only allowed to access the Taxpayer Business Service if they have a business need to do so. Where access rights are validated staff are able to amend the appropriate records. Staff must adhere to rigorous guidelines in relation to disclosure of data; They must establish that they have permission/legal authority to disclose it, and that the requestor has entitlement/legal right to receive it.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 482 c103-4W; 231706
Session: 2007-08
Related items: Revenue and Customs: Databases
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Databases Revenue and Customs
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk