When he expects to complete his consideration of the tax liabilities of those with non-domicile status.

I saw the hon. Gentleman make his entrance halfway through our time this morning, and I am pleased that he has found the time to join us.

The Government's review of the residence and domicile rules is ongoing. The Government are mindful that any change to the current system would need to balance carefully the principles of ensuring fairness and of promoting the UK's international competitiveness.

I thank the Financial Secretary for her courteous welcome.

The review was started in 2002 and seems to be taking an inordinate amount of time. Is that in any way connected with the large sums of money given to the Labour party by those who qualify for non-domiciled status, such as Lakshmi Mittal? While we are on the subject of this new sleaze-free environment that the Prime Minister has created, can we have an absolute guarantee that neither the Prime Minister nor the Chancellor will appoint as an economic adviser anyone who qualifies for non-domiciled tax status?

To deal with the general point about non-domiciled status, it is important to keep such issues in context and perspective. Resident non-domiciled people remain a relatively small group who are liable to pay UK tax on their earnings in the UK. Indeed, the Exchequer benefits to the tune of £3 billion. It is rich for the Liberal Democrats to come here and seek to lecture other hon. Members, given the circumstances in which some of their donors are living.

Does my right hon. Friend not acknowledge that this issue is now a rich source of public concern, a great deal of complication, which makes money for accountants, and a great deal of abuse? Britain's reputation as an offshore tax haven and the concern expressed by tax authorities in the United States about that must be addressed. We cannot run the tax economy of this country as a large-scale version of Chelsea football club.

Contrary to recent press claims, the International Monetary Fund does not categorise the UK as a tax haven, despite some recent publicity attached to an IMF working paper, which was seeking to develop a methodology to identify tax havens. Under that proposed methodology, the UK would have counted as a tax haven, but the methodology is seriously flawed. I could go into the detail of why that was so, but I suspect that I would try your patience if I did so, Mr. Speaker. However, I acknowledge the concerns that my hon. Friend has raised and appreciate that a debate is taking place about the matter, and I will keep it under very close review.

Although I have some sympathy with the concerns addressed by Norman Baker, at least in relation to donors to the Labour party, may I tell the Financial Secretary that it is of great importance to the City of London and to ensuring its place as a pre-eminent global financial capital that we ensure that we have the very best talent here? Will she therefore ensure that, whenever the report comes into play—five years seems quite a long time for it to be ongoing—there is a balance between the interests of London as a global financial capital, which benefits all of us, and the issues of non-domiciled status?

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for those comments. I acknowledge the very serious point that he makes. As I said earlier, fairness in the tax system is one of our primary objectives, but it is also important to promote the UK's competitiveness, by remaining an attractive place to do business.

The Financial Secretary will be aware that a Select Committee is looking at private equity and non-domiciliary taxation as an aspect of private equity. It is clear already that those matters are costing the Treasury and the taxpayer considerable sums of money and that they are rewarding the main participants—the self-proclaimed masters of the universe—with grossly inflated sums of money, without any real risk. Can the Financial Secretary confirm that the review set in train on those taxation measures is still under way and will report at pre-Budget time?

I can confirm that the review is under way and that it will report. If my hon. Friend will excuse me, I will not be drawn into a discussion on the particular issues that he raised, because it is a much wider subject. Estimates of the tax loss to the UK as a consequence of the use of the remittance basis by those who are not domiciled in the UK are not routinely made. We do not hold information on overseas income and gains that do not give rise to a tax liability in the UK, but, as I have said, individuals claiming that they are resident but not domiciled declare approximately £9.8 billion in taxable income, which leads to a UK tax liability of about £3 billion.