To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much the Inland Revenue paid in postal surcharges for completed tax returns which arrived in envelopes that had no, or insufficient, postage in each year since 1990–91; and if he will make a statement;(2) what estimates he has for the cost of supplying a reply paid envelope with each tax return; and if he will make a statement.

The cost of supplying a reply paid envelope with each tax return would be about £2 million a year. Information is not held centrally on the cost of postal surcharges, but it is clear that this cost is relatively small.