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Dept of Social Security

Answer

Mr. Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if national insurance numbers are checked to ensure that the declared income is the only source of tax income. [158200] Mr. Rooker: [holding answer 23 April 2001]: The Department uses available information to detect discrepancies in declared income. When a claim is made for Income Support (IS) or Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) claimants are required to provide evidence of any declared income, for example wage slips for earnings or payment slips for occupational pensions. Details on the pay slips are checked by Benefits Agency (BA) staff for deductions from pay, including the rate of income tax. Where the amount of tax deducted is disproportionate to the gross payment, or the tax code quoted seems inappropriate, further inquiries are made to establish if there is another source of taxable income being paid to the claimant. Regular checks are made on continuing claims where there is a declared source of income to ensure that any changes have been reported. These checks not only confirm the net payment made to the claimant but also the details of any deductions for tax and NI. Once again, this information can act as an indicator of other taxable income. In addition to checks made on claims where there is a declared income, the Department work closely with Inland Revenue (IR) to detect those claimants in receipt of IS and JSA who fail to declare that they have commenced remunerative work. Tax form P46 is completed by employers for all new employees who are unable to provide a P45. IR is able to provide data to the Department of all P46 completions on a monthly basis. The Department match the NINOs of all employees who appear in the P46 data with the NINOs of claimants who have a current claim to IS or JSA. Where the employment start date overlaps a benefit claim by more than four weeks, the case is referred to the Benefit Fraud Investigation Service (BFIS) for investigation.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

368 c387-8W; 158200

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Abuse Income tax National insurance contributions Social security benefits

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk