TAX CREDITS AND MIGRATION

That this House notes that HM Revenue and Customs states that it does not hold information as to the amount of tax credits paid to people by nationality; recognises that this means that the Government does not have the information to identify whether loopholes in the rules relating to self-employment and tax credits are being abused to circumvent the rules relating to habitual residency; further notes that there is considerable anecdotal evidence that essentially spurious self-employment schemes are being established by recent migrants in order to qualify for in-work benefits which would not be available were habitual residency rules to apply; believes that the Government should aim to keep sufficient information to manage the tax and benefits system; and calls for the Government to modify the databases to ensure this information is recorded in the future.