Inheritance Tax: Cohabiting Siblings
Debate between Lord Mann and Baroness Penn(3 years, 2 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, the Government are of course aware of my noble friend’s previous Private Member’s Bill on this subject. The question is not just one of cost; it is about legal relationships between individuals. Married couples and couples in civil partnerships have a unique legal status and it is difficult to see why cohabiting siblings should benefit where other cohabiting family members, for example, would not.
Lord Mann (Non-Afl)
The unfairness in law that the noble Lord, Lord Lexden, has rightly highlighted goes well beyond the question of inheritance tax. In my experience, cohabiting siblings in mining communities face a whole range of disadvantages in law. Should the Government not be looking at the whole issue of the rights of those who choose to cohabit as, say, brothers and sisters?
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, that is a broader point, but I am afraid I am going to have to disappoint noble Lords: the Government have looked at this issue in the context of inheritance tax, and may have looked at it more widely. In the context of inheritance tax, the unique legal relationship that marriage and civil partnerships entail has been concluded as the right place to draw the line on this issue.
VAT Retail Export Scheme
Debate between Lord Mann and Baroness Penn
Lord Mann (Non-Afl)
The Government have to get money in as well as spend money out. Considering the hardship that many families are currently facing, does the Minister agree that this change is proportionate, fair and timely?
Economic Outlook and Furlough Scheme Changes
Debate between Lord Mann and Baroness Penn
Baroness Penn
I absolutely agree with my noble friend about the importance of apprenticeships and other schemes that will help people who have unfortunately lost their jobs during this pandemic to re-enter the labour market and recover as our economy opens up.
Lord Mann (Non-Afl) [V]
Academic research from New Orleans after its flooding disaster shows that entrepreneurs were the key to regenerating a very damaged economy. What support are the Government giving now to incentivise entrepreneurs to take risks and employ people so that new ideas, new products and new services can re-boost our economy?
Baroness Penn
One important change that the Government committed to in their manifesto and have implemented is increasing the employment allowance in national insurance contributions. This means that new businesses can employ more people without paying those national insurance costs, and it incentivises them to take on their first one or two members of staff as they grow their businesses.
Covid-19: Furloughed Space Grant Scheme
Debate between Lord Mann and Baroness Penn
Baroness Penn
I can happily make a commitment to my noble friend to take that back. My understanding is that local councils have also been given money to fund additional discretionary grants to address those kinds of gaps, but I will take her specific examples back to the Treasury.
Lord Mann (Non-Afl) [V]
My Lords, will the Minister ensure that no additional taxpayers’ money finds its way into the pockets of commercial landlords who hold their entities offshore to avoid paying UK tax?
Baroness Penn
Our approach to commercial landlords and commercial tenants is to support the code of practice being developed so that between the two of them, they can resolve payment structures and solutions that work for both of them.
Covid-19: Economy
Debate between Lord Mann and Baroness Penn
Baroness Penn
I agree with the noble Lord about the importance of a longer-term view. He is right that in the last five weeks we have focused on getting immediate support up and running for individuals and businesses, setting out those policies and making them operational, but that does not mean that there is not further work to be done to take into account the longer-term view of this crisis. It is true that facts are changing as we go along—the disease and our knowledge of it are changing—so we will want to take that into account as we develop our long-term plan.
Lord Mann (Non-Afl)
QE was used very successfully by the Bank of England in the banking crisis. Are discussions under way for some form of people’s quantitative easing to deal with the ensuing economic crisis?
Baroness Penn
Of course, decisions around monetary policy are for the independent Bank of England. It has already taken action in this crisis, including cutting the bank rate from 0.25% to 0.1% and introducing the Term Funding Scheme with additional incentives to support small and medium-sized enterprises during this time.