Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an ATA Carnet is required for the shipment of musical instruments and equipment by truck or cargo between the UK and the EU.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
ATA carnets are available for commercial goods, professional equipment or goods going to trade fairs or exhibitions in participating countries, which are moved on a temporary basis to a new customs territory (i.e. they will not be sold and will return to the country of origin). This includes musical instruments. Carnets allow a single document to be used for clearing goods through customs in the countries that are part of the ATA carnet system.
There are two other options available when moving musical instruments temporarily between the EU and the UK (used together for export and reimport procedures); Temporary Admission and Returned Goods Relief.
Temporary Admission is a customs procedure that allows a person to import non-UK goods temporarily into the UK. Using Temporary Admission means any import duty or import VAT is suspended as long as the goods are removed from the UK at a later date. Temporary Admission is useful if a person needs to import goods such as samples, professional equipment or items for auction, exhibition or demonstration temporarily into the UK.
Returned Goods Relief (RGR) allows eligible items to be reimported free from customs duty and import VAT. The relief can apply to exported items returning to the UK if certain conditions can be met. For RGR to apply, goods must normally be returned within three years of the date of export unless exceptional circumstances exist. For RGR on import VAT to apply the exporter and importer must be the same person and any VAT due must have been previously paid in the UK or EU.
Temporary Admission and Returned Goods Relief may be available in the EU. Further information on EU customs procedures can be found online.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure employers follow their guidance that atypical workers on PAYE, including agency workers, individuals on zero-hours contracts, and casual workers, are eligible to be furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; and whether they intend to send communications to employers encouraging them to do so.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government encourages all?firms?affected by coronavirus to treat their employees fairly and carefully.?The scheme?is already?helping?firms keep millions of people in employment by?covering?most wage costs. While there is no obligation for employers to take up the scheme, the scheme is open to all UK employers provided they have a PAYE scheme registered on HMRC’s real time information system for PAYE on 19 March 2020;?enrolled for PAYE online; and have a UK bank account. HMRC must?also?have received an RTI submission notifying payment in respect of that employee on or before 19 March 2020. Employers can claim for employees on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts.
Those not eligible for the scheme may have access to other support which the Government is providing, including a package of temporary welfare measures and up to three months’ mortgage payment holidays for those who may be in difficulty with their mortgage payments.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have prohibited furloughed employees to continue working or volunteering for the organisation they have been furloughed from under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; and what assessment they have made of the potential merits of financial measures adopted by governments in other countries, including the (1) Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, and (2) Australian JobKeeper Payment, that allow furloughed employees to continue working for their businesses.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The purpose of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is to support people who would otherwise have been made redundant. To prevent fraudulent claims, the Government made it clear that individuals cannot work or volunteer for their organisation.
This aims to protect individuals too; if workers were allowed to volunteer or work for their employer, the employer could ask them to work in an effectively full time way while only paying 80% of the wages. Individuals are permitted to work for another employer, undertake training or volunteer subject to public health guidance, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with other government departments and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to identify areas where volunteers can contribute to the COVID-19 response.
The Government is closely monitoring other international employment protection schemes, and is engaging with other governments to inform the decision-making process for the CJRS.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential negative impact on graduates, and individuals who have been on sick leave or maternity leave, caused by the policy of offering self-employed individuals a grant through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme based on the average monthly self-employed profit from the last three tax; and whether they will introduce special circumstances that allow individuals to discount these years when calculating average profits to better reflect their current position.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Claiming Maternity Allowance or taking parental/sickness leave does not mean that the trade has ceased and therefore should not affect a person’s eligibility for Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, as long as the individual intends to return to the trade after maternity/paternity/adoption leave.
Anyone who submitted a tax return in 2018/19, and meets the eligibility criteria, will be eligible for the SEISS. The Government recognises that some people may not have submitted a 2018/19 return for a range of reasons, including due to parental/sickness leave or entering the labour market as a new graduate.
The Chancellor has indicated that delivering a scheme for the self-employed is a very difficult operational challenge, particularly in the time available. It is not possible for HMRC to know the reasons why an individual’s profits may have dropped in earlier years from income tax self-assessment returns. However, to help those with volatile income in 2018/19, HMRC can determine an individual’s eligibility on either their profits in 2018-19, or on an average between 2016-17 to 2018-19.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the justification for the cap on trading profits in order to access the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to be set at £50,000 when there is no cap on earnings in the eligibility criteria for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) are different schemes. The CJRS is designed to prevent businesses laying off staff. The SEISS is designed to support the living standards of the self-employed.
The SEISS, including the £50,000 threshold, is designed to target those who need it most and who are most reliant on their self-employment income. The self-employed are a very diverse population. They have a wide mix of turnover and profits, with monthly and annual variations even in normal times. The self-employed can also offset losses against profits in other years and other forms of income. Some may see their profits unaffected by the current situation, while others will have substantial alternative forms of income. For example, those who had more than £50,000 from self-employment profits in 2017-18 had an average total income of more than £200,000.
In addition, the self-employed can continue to work and remain eligible for the taxable grant as long as they meet the other criteria, including their trade being adversely affected as a result of COVID-19.
Those with average profits above £50,000 may still benefit from other support. Individuals may have access to a range of grants and loans depending on their circumstances. The SEISS supplements the significant support already announced for UK businesses, including the Bounce Back Loan Scheme for small businesses, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and the deferral of tax payments. More information about the full range of business support measures is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the policy that allows employees and workers paid via PAYE to be furloughed by more than one employer under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, why they have required 50 per cent of an individual’s income to be from self-employment in order to be able to access 80 per cent profits under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme; and what assessment they have made of the potential merits of lowering the threshold of income from self-employment from 50 per cent to 25 per cent.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) aims to provide financial support to those who rely on self-employment as their main source of income, so that it is targeted at those who need it most. Many individuals earn small amounts of income from self-employment in addition to income from employment and other sources.
These individuals may benefit from other support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The SEISS supplements the significant support already announced for UK businesses, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Bounce Back Loans Scheme and the deferral of tax payments.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that HM Revenue and Customs provides rebates for freelance workers in the EU27 who may incur double deductions of social security as a result of the invalidity of A1 certificates in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Opposition Deputy Chief Whip (Lords)
If the UK leaves the EU with an agreement then there will be no changes to social security coordination during the implementation period ending on 31 December 2020.
The Government is working to protect UK workers in a no deal scenario by seeking an EU-wide approach or reciprocal bilateral arrangements with Member States to transitionally continue the current social security coordination rules in full until the end of December 2020. Where arrangements are put in place, individuals, employers and freelancers will continue to pay social security contributions in one country at a time.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, ATA Carnets would be required for musicians who are travelling to perform in multiple EU countries for their musical instruments which are transported either (1) as hand luggage or (2) in trucks.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Opposition Deputy Chief Whip (Lords)
In the event of the UK exiting the EU without a deal, the UK will become a single customs territory and use of an ATA Carnet will be an option for moving goods, such as exhibition stands and musical instruments, temporarily between the UK-EU.
In general, ATA Carnets are one option when moving goods temporarily between customs territories. Their use is a commercial decision and should be considered alongside temporary admission / Returned Goods Relief procedures.