Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to address the delays in dealing with applications for clearance under section 1044 of the Company Tax Act 2010 by HMRC in Newcastle due to a shortage of resources, in the light of the urgency of some of the outstanding cases.

HMRC must notify its decision on an application under section 1044 Corporation Tax Act 2010 within 30 days of its receipt.

During the six months from October 2015 to March 2016, HMRC received 1105 clearance applications under section 1044. The average time taken to reply to these applications was 15 days. Decisions on over 95% of the applications were notified within the statutory time limit.

HMRC monitors the number of clearance applications it receives in this area and the time taken to reply to them to ensure a consistent service.