Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of TIR procedures for vehicles crossing the UK from Ireland to travel onward to the EU since the end of the transition period.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
HMRC have not carried out any assessments of effectiveness of TIR procedures for vehicles crossing the UK.
The UK is a member of both the Common Transit Convention (CTC) and Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) conventions. Depending on preferences and suitability, a trader can choose to use the TIR or CTC process to move goods across borders using transit.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to prevent companies funnelling profits into low tax subsidiaries in the Netherlands.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The UK has led international efforts to tackle avoidance by multinationals, including through the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) Project which looks at aggressive tax planning strategies that exploit tax rules to artificially shift profits to low tax jurisdictions where there is little or no economic activity.
This international collaboration has led to the introduction of hybrid mismatch rules that prevent multinationals exploiting differences in the tax systems of different countries, a requirement for UK headed large businesses to provide HMRC with a country-by-country report, detailing their global profits, tax and assets to ensure they are paying the correct tax on all their UK activity, and a Corporate Interest Restriction that protects against companies using intra-group loans to shift profits overseas.
Alongside these multilateral efforts are UK domestic rules that have complemented these changes.
In April 2015, the UK Government introduced the Diverted Profits Tax (‘DPT’). DPT was designed to counter contrived arrangements used by multinational corporations to shift their profits offshore and avoid paying tax in the UK on their economic activities here.
In January 2019 HMRC launched a new Profit Diversion Compliance Facility (‘PDCF’) to encourage businesses to stop diverting profits and pay what is due. About two-thirds of the large businesses targeted so far have decided to use the facility to bring their tax affairs up to date quickly and efficiently, enabling HMRC to focus even more resources on investigating businesses which continue to divert profits.
Multinationals can often have complicated tax affairs and HMRC are determined to ensure that their profits are correctly attributed, and they are paying all the tax they owe.
Additional information about HMRC’s work to tackle profit diversion by multinational companies is available on GOV.UK along with the most recent Transfer Pricing and Diverted Profits Tax statistics:
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the equity of companies (a) maintaining or (b) increasing (i) dividends and (ii) management bonuses while receiving financial support during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by John Glen
The Government acted quickly to deliver an unprecedented package of support measures, well-targeted at businesses in genuine need. It is our expectation that everyone should act responsibly and in the spirit of the package, and only claim and use support as intended.
Under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), borrowers are required to restrict dividend payments and are only allowed to make dividends payments which were a) declared before the CLBILS loan was taken out, b) are in keeping with similar dividends payments made in the preceding 12 months, and c) do not have a material negative impact on the borrower’s ability to repay the loan. Firms borrowing more than £50m will be required to agree to defer dividend payments and share buybacks, alongside restrictions on pay and bonuses for senior management. These restrictions remain in place until the loan has been repaid.
Additionally, Companies accessing the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) beyond 19 May 2021, are required to defer capital distributions, pay rises and cash bonuses to senior management. The Government continues to keep all measures under constant review.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the report by Dame Elizabeth Gloster on London Capital and Finance.
Answered by John Glen
As set out in a Written Ministerial Statement on 24 November the Treasury is working with the FCA so that the government can lay before Parliament (and publish online) Dame Elizabeth’s report and the FCA’s response before the December recess. This remains the government’s intention.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's policy is on the right of customers to pay in cash.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that cash remains important to millions of people across the UK, which is why it has committed to legislate to protect access to cash and to ensure that the UK’s cash infrastructure is sustainable long term.
The Government remains closely engaged with the financial regulators, including through the Treasury-chaired Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group, to monitor and assess risks around cash relating to COVID-19. In order to help control the virus, all businesses and individuals are encouraged to follow the latest Government advice. To work safely during COVID-19, retailers have been recommended to minimise contact around transactions, for example, considering using contactless payments. However, it remains the individual retailer’s choice as to whether to accept or decline any form of payment, including cash or card.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to respond to the Financial Conduct Authority's report, General insurance pricing practices: Final report, published in September 2020.
Answered by John Glen
Consumers should be able to get a fair deal when purchasing insurance. The FCA has set out proposals to deliver this in its report on General Insurance Pricing Practices. We are engaging with the regulator and the sector on next steps and will be interested in the outcome of the FCA’s consultation due in early 2021.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to reply to the letter of 3 April 2020 from the right hon. Member for Warley regarding Ms Foley.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The letter the Rt Hon. Member for Warley refers to was passed to HM Revenue and Customs and a response was issued on 4 May 2020. HMRC have confirmed that a further copy of that reply was sent to the Rt Hon. Member on 8 July 2020.