Asked by: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises of the move to the online VAT returns system.
Answered by Lord Bates
There is a range of advice and support available to help businesses of all sizes prepare for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT in April 2019. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is working very closely with software providers, businesses, representative bodies and the accountancy profession to raise awareness of MTD and ensure the right support and training is in place to help businesses adapt.
HMRC’s customer support model, which guides businesses to the most appropriate help, includes technical support, webchat, YouTube training videos, webinars, a helpline, and relevant guides. HMRC also publishes a list of MTD for VAT compatible products on GOV.UK to help businesses make an informed choice of software to meet their needs. HMRC is writing to customers that it expects to be mandated for MTD for VAT, explaining what the business needs to do.
HMRC’s Impact Assessment for MTD was published on 1 December 2017. There is no separate Impact Assessment relating to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Asked by: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they intend to provide to small and medium-sized enterprises about the move to the online VAT returns system.
Answered by Lord Bates
There is a range of advice and support available to help businesses of all sizes prepare for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT in April 2019. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is working very closely with software providers, businesses, representative bodies and the accountancy profession to raise awareness of MTD and ensure the right support and training is in place to help businesses adapt.
HMRC’s customer support model, which guides businesses to the most appropriate help, includes technical support, webchat, YouTube training videos, webinars, a helpline, and relevant guides. HMRC also publishes a list of MTD for VAT compatible products on GOV.UK to help businesses make an informed choice of software to meet their needs. HMRC is writing to customers that it expects to be mandated for MTD for VAT, explaining what the business needs to do.
HMRC’s Impact Assessment for MTD was published on 1 December 2017. There is no separate Impact Assessment relating to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Asked by: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider advising the Bank of England to change its formal name to the Bank of England and the United Kingdom, whilst continuing to use the Bank of England for day-to-day purposes.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Bank of England's name carries a longevity that pre-dates the formation of the United Kingdom itself, having been founded in 1694 as “the Governor and Company of the Bank of England”. Under the current state of the union the Bank acts as central bank for the entirety of the United Kingdom. This includes underwriting both Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes.
To change its name now would represent a break from over 300 years’ worth of history and the prestige it carries as a global brand.
Asked by: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to meet with the representative bodies of employee share ownership schemes to discuss the recent decision to withdraw HM Revenue and Custom’s valuation check service.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
Officials from HM Revenue and Customs have already met representative bodies of employee ownership schemes. HMRC will be working with those groups to develop further public guidance and discuss any other proposals their members might raise.
Asked by: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice they received on the impact on small and medium-sized enterprises’ productivity levels following the withdrawal of HM Revenue and Custom’s valuation check service.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
No impact on the productivity of small and medium-sized enterprises is anticipated. HMRC has not withdrawn the valuation service for those share schemes most relevant to these enterprises.
These include:
Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI),
Company Share Option Plans (CSOP),
Save As You Earn share option schemes (SAYE),
Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and
Employee Shareholder Status (ESS).
HMRC has however announced a review of the valuation services for those schemes and is consulting interested parties.
HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE that are not part of these recognised employee ownership schemes. Most people submitted acceptable valuations and therefore the valuation service offered was not seen as needed.
Asked by: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on UK productivity of the planned withdrawal of HM Revenue and Custom’s valuation check service.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
No impact on UK productivity is anticipated. HMRC has not withdrawn the valuation service for those share schemes most relevant to small and medium sized enterprises.
These include:
Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI),
Company Share Option Plans (CSOP),
Save As You Earn share option schemes (SAYE),
Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and
Employee Shareholder Status (ESS).
HMRC has however announced a review of the valuation services for those schemes and is consulting interested parties.
HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE that are not part of these recognised employee ownership schemes. Most people submitted acceptable valuations and therefore the valuation service offered was not seen as needed.
Asked by: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consultation or correspondence they had with companies offering employee share ownership schemes before announcing the withdrawal of HM Revenue and Custom’s valuation check service.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been consulting representative bodies through the Valuation Fiscal Forum over the last 18 months.
HMRC has not withdrawn valuation services that are most relevant to employee share ownership schemes.
These include:
Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI),
Company Share Option Plans (CSOP),
Save As You Earn share option schemes (SAYE),
Share Incentive Plans (SIP) and
Employee Shareholder Status (ESS).
HMRC has, however, announced a review of the valuation services for those schemes and is consulting interested parties.
HMRC has withdrawn valuation checks for income tax and PAYE that are not part of these recognised employee ownership schemes. Most people submitted acceptable valuations and therefore the valuation service offered was not seen as needed.
Asked by: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the HM Revenue and Custom’s commissioned research conducted by Oxera on the impact employee share ownership schemes had on the productivity levels of UK firms.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The report “Tax-advantaged employee share schemes: analysis of productivity effects” was prepared for HM Revenue and Customs by Oxera and published in August 2007.
The research represents a valuable addition to the evidence base on employee share schemes, but there are important limitations to its scope. While the research uses real measures of company productivity, it does not take into account potential complementary effects or assess the effects of share schemes on other performance measures, such as staff turnover, or in achieving wider objectives such as promoting share ownership.
Asked by: Lord Harrison (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the United Kingdom has ever been offered the opportunity to attend Eurogroup meetings; and if so, on how many occasions and what was their response.
Answered by Lord Deighton
In the context of the Euro Area Sovereign Debt Crisis the Eurogroup has met in an extended format on occasion, including in May 2011 and January 2012. Chaired by the Eurogroup President, these meetings were attended by Ministers from non-Euro area Member States including the United Kingdom.