Written question asked by Jackie Lawrence (Labour) on Tuesday, 4 July 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 5 July 2000. It was answered by Baroness Primarolo (Labour) on Wednesday, 5 July 2000 on behalf of the Treasury.

Treasury

Question: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a statement on the future work programme of the tax law rewrite project; and if it includes the rewriting of the Pay As You Earn Regulations.

Answer: Mrs. Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the future work programme of the Tax Law Rewrite project; and if it includes the rewriting of the Pay As You Earn Regulations. [129448] Dawn Primarolo: I am pleased to say that the Tax Law Rewrite project is making very good progress and continues to enjoy wide support. A rewritten draft Capital Allowances Bill will be published at the end of July, for final consultations. It is planned to be ready for introduction in Parliament towards the end of this year. Work also continues on the much larger task of rewriting the Income Tax legislation. For practical reasons, this will be enacted in stages. The first Income Tax Bill--covering employment income and possibly social security and pensions income--is planned to be ready in November 2002. The aim is to have a second Income Tax Bill--covering trading income, property income and savings and investment income--ready for November 2003. Although the project's remit does not extend to secondary legislation, I am pleased to announce that--as an exception--the rewriting of the PAYE Regulations will be included in the work programme for the first Income Tax Bill. This should be warmly welcomed by employers. The aim is for the rewritten Regulations to come into force at the same time as the first Income Tax Bill, in April 2003.

Secondary information