To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what expenditure his Department incurred in paying interest on tax refunds in each of the last five years. (262727)

The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people received tax refunds from HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor in each of the last five years. (262728)

Information on the number of people receiving income tax repayments is not available. The following table provides the numbers of income tax repayments made to individuals. In some cases, one person will have received more than one repayment.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was charged in interest on unpaid tax by HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor in each of the last five years. (262729)

Amounts of interest charged on unpaid direct taxes are not available on a financial year basis, HM Revenue and Customs collect figures to an annual October date.

The table provides the amount of interest charged for 2003-04 to 2006-07, figures for 2007-08 have not yet been finalised. These figures do not necessarily equate to interest received by HMRC and do not include interest charged on corporation tax liabilities raised prior to the start of CT self assessment (CTSA).

The following table provides figures for the interest charged on unpaid VAT; these run from 1 April to 31 March each year. Data are not readily available for indirect taxes other than VAT, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the effect on his Department's revenue of reducing the amount of interest paid on tax refunds to zero in 2008-09. (262730)

No such estimate has been made.