Clause 11 - Recouping Inland Revenue contributions
Child Trust Funds Bill
5:00 pm
Mr George Osborne (Tatton, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 130, in
clause 11, page 6, line 29, at end insert
'provided that a person is shown to have acted fraudulently or negligently'.
The Financial Secretary is being unduly pessimistic about her career chances if she believes that she will still be in the post in 2009. These things are not in her gift, but I predict that she will be shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Clause 11 deals with recouping Inland Revenue contributions, and amendment No. 130 is a probing amendment. The clause gives the Inland Revenue a general power to make regulations to recoup money from child trust funds. The explanatory notes state:
''This clause gives the Treasury power to make regulations requiring persons of a description specified in the regulations to repay to the Inland Revenue sums paid into accounts by the Inland Revenue''.
The clause does not specify under what circumstances that power will be given, and it does not give people much protection from the taxman. My amendment merely states that the Inland Revenue may recoup funds only where a person has acted ''fraudulently or negligently''. Those words are used elsewhere in the Bill.
If the Minister is not minded to agree to my amendment, which, given her record over the last few amendments, may well be the case, perhaps she will say that where the Inland Revenue has made a genuine mistake that is its fault, people will at least be allowed to keep the investment gains that they have made on the money put in by the Inland Revenue. It would be harsh if the Inland Revenue could suddenly claw back the gains that someone had made because, for instance, it had incorrectly credited them. This amendment would keep the Inland Revenue on its toes. However, it is intended to allow for a discussion about the wide-ranging powers that this clause gives to the Inland Revenue.