Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of income tax payers they estimate to be university graduates.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government does not hold complete data on which taxpayers are graduates and which are not. Therefore, we cannot provide a reliable estimate in answer to these questions.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the top (1) one per cent, (2) 10 per cent, and (3) 50 per cent, of income tax payers they estimate to be university graduates.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government does not hold complete data on which taxpayers are graduates and which are not. Therefore, we cannot provide a reliable estimate in answer to these questions.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of higher rate tax payers they estimate to be university graduates.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government does not hold complete data on which taxpayers are graduates and which are not. Therefore, we cannot provide a reliable estimate in answer to these questions.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why reverse charge VAT has been applied to products such as mobile phones and gold, but not to scrap metal.
Answered by Lord Bates
HMRC uses a wide range of risk assessment and compliance responses to identify and tackle non-compliance. The introduction of a reverse charge can be effective in preventing certain types of VAT fraud. It is used selectively and targeted at the highest risks such as mobile phones and, most recently, telecommunications.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with scrap metal trade bodies about reverse charge VAT.
Answered by Lord Bates
HMRC meets with a variety of trade bodies as part of its general approach to assessing and tackling non-compliance, including the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA). This has included discussing ways in which HMRC can provide guidance to BMRA members about spotting VAT fraud.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps HMRC is taking to tackle carousel or missing trader intra-community fraud in the scrap metal sector.
Answered by Lord Bates
HMRC has identified metals as a common commodity used to perpetrate Missing Trader Intra Community (MTIC) fraud and will take all necessary and proportionate steps to tackle it. HMRC is committed to tackling tax fraud through the most effective means possible, and has successfully reduced fraud levels by a significant amount.
HMRC works closely with businesses to raise their awareness and understanding of risks, promoting good governance and risk assessment, in order to minimise the likelihood of them becoming involved in fraudulent supply chains.
One of HMRC’s approaches for tackling MTIC fraud is to continuously monitor traders in risk sectors. This enables HMRC to quickly identify suspect activity and make early interventions.
HMRC also carries out criminal investigations and prosecutions in line with its published criminal investigation policy as part of this wide ranging programme of interventions to combat MTIC fraud.
Asked by: Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much potential revenue they estimate the Government is losing each year through carousel or missing trader intra-community fraud.
Answered by Lord Bates
I refer the Hon Member to the answer that I gave on 4 December to the Rt Hon. Baroness Primarolo (HL3403). The information is also available in Chapter 2 of the ‘Measuring Tax Gaps’ publication.[1]
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps