Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the £6.9 billion of tax credit debt has been held by HMRC (a) for more than seven years, (b) between two and seven years and (c) less than two years.

The £6.9 billion of tax credit debt in 2017/18 is net £0.3billion of debt that was transferred to DWP. A breakdown of the age of tax credits debt is only readily available on the gross debt estimate of £7.2 billion. This shows that (a) 16 per cent relates to the 2010-11 award year or older, (b) 52 per cent relates to award years between 2011/12 to 2015/16, and (c) 29 per cent relates to the 2016/17 award year or after.