Asked by: Baroness Bull (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Penn on 9 March (HL Deb col 886), whether they will include 50 per cent of marketing spend in the qualifying expenditure for Theatre Tax Relief to match the level of the equivalent scheme in the United States of America.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Whilst the Government keeps all tax reliefs under review, the Government is not planning to expand the scope of Theatre Tax Relief (TTR) to include 50 per cent of marketing spend. The objective of theatre tax relief is to support and incentivise production and that is why eligible expenditure is focussed on the costs that are incurred producing and closing the theatrical production, rather than marketing.
The Government assesses that the equivalent scheme in New York is less generous overall than the UK relief: the amount of relief a production can receive is capped at $3 million and there are additional eligibility criteria and a more limited scope (for example, ballet and opera will not qualify). Whilst the UK scheme excludes marketing, it is uncapped and more generous in scope.
At Spring Budget 2023, the Government went further to support theatres by extending the 45 per cent (for non-touring productions) and 50 per cent (for touring productions) rates of TTR for a further 2 years. The rates will taper to 30 per cent /35 per cent on 1 April 2025 and return to 20 per cent /25 per cent on 1 April 2026.
The extension will continue to offset ongoing pressures and boost investment in our cultural sectors.
Asked by: Baroness Bull (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of how many Direct Debits are set up fraudulently each year through the Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service (AUDDIS); what assessment they have made of whether AUDDIS offers sufficient security against the establishment of fraudulent Direct Debits; and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of any sanctions in place for AUDDIS originators found to be responsible for repeated fraud attempts.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Bacs Direct Debit scheme is operated by Pay.UK, a private sector payment system operator. Bacs has been recognised and designated by HM Treasury and is subject to the regulatory oversight of the Bank of England and the Payment Systems Regulator respectively. Refund requests under the Direct Debit Guarantee, including where fraud is suspected, are made on a small proportion of all direct debits collected. In order to receive Direct Debit payments, businesses and other organisations must be ‘sponsored’ by a Payment Service Provider that participates in Bacs (usually their bank). Businesses undergo stringent checks to ensure their identity and that they understand their responsibilities and obligations when using the Direct Debit scheme.Pay.UK also has a range of sanctions available to them that can be used against businesses that do not comply with the Bacs rules, ultimately including removing them from the service altogether if necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Bull (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 12 March (HL Deb, col 1980), what assessment they have made of the impact of the eligibility criteria for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme on the creative industries; and what plans they have to introduce targeted support to ineligible freelance workers.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government recognises that taxpayers have faced immense challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in the creative industries.
Freelancers who are ineligible for the SEISS are likely to be those who receive less than half of their income from self-employment. The design of the SEISS, including the eligibility criteria which require that an individual’s trading profits must be at least equal to their non-trading income, means it is targeted at those who are most reliant on their self-employment income.
Freelancers who are ineligible for the SEISS may be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The CJRS is available to individuals regardless of their employment contract or employment rights, as long as they meet the relevant eligibility criteria.
The Government recognises the value of the cultural sectors and has announced £300 million in additional funding to build on the existing £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund. To date, the Culture Recovery Fund has allocated more than £800 million of grants and loans to over 3,000 cultural organisations in England. Organisations supported include independent cinemas, theatres, museums, orchestras and music venues.