Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has any plans to reduce stamp duty rates.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the usual tax policy making process. Tax changes, including changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), are generally announced at the Autumn Budget, where decisions are taken in the round.
SDLT is an important source of government revenue, raising several billion pounds each year to help pay the essential public services. Therefore, any changes to SDLT would have to be carefully considered given the potential effect on public finances.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) was devolved to Scotland by the Scotland Act 2012 and subsequently replaced with the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in April 2015.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has any plans to review or amend the Barnett formula.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
The 2017 government manifesto committed to continue to use the Barnett formula. The Barnett formula is simple, mechanical and transparent, and has stood the test of time with successive governments committing to its retention.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to raise the higher rate threshold of income tax and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of a raise in that threshold on the (a) Scottish Government block grant and (b) tax differential between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is committed to keeping taxes low to support working people to keep more of what they earn and to encourage individuals to progress.
This is why the Government met its commitment to raise the higher rate threshold to £50,000, one year early. This has ensured that nearly 1 million fewer people pay the higher rate of tax compared to 2015-16.
Decisions on the Higher Rate Threshold and the National Insurance Contributions (NICs)s Upper Earnings Limit and Upper Profits Limit are taken by the Chancellor at fiscal events.
The mechanism through which the changes to income tax policy affect the Scottish Government’s block grant are set out in the Scottish Government’s Fiscal Framework. When the UK Governments increases the Higher Rate Threshold, the Scottish Government receives an increase to their block grant commensurate to the Higher Rate Threshold increase. National Insurance Contributions are reserved to the UK government, and therefore any changes to NICs do not affect the Scottish Government’s block grant.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to change the level of national insurance paid at the upper earnings limit and what assessment he has made of the potential of effect of that change on the (a) Scottish Government block grant and (b) tax differential between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is committed to keeping taxes low to support working people to keep more of what they earn and to encourage individuals to progress.
This is why the Government met its commitment to raise the higher rate threshold to £50,000, one year early. This has ensured that nearly 1 million fewer people pay the higher rate of tax compared to 2015-16.
Decisions on the Higher Rate Threshold and the National Insurance Contributions (NICs)s Upper Earnings Limit and Upper Profits Limit are taken by the Chancellor at fiscal events.
The mechanism through which the changes to income tax policy affect the Scottish Government’s block grant are set out in the Scottish Government’s Fiscal Framework. When the UK Governments increases the Higher Rate Threshold, the Scottish Government receives an increase to their block grant commensurate to the Higher Rate Threshold increase. National Insurance Contributions are reserved to the UK government, and therefore any changes to NICs do not affect the Scottish Government’s block grant.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has any plans to reduce corporation tax.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Since 2010 the Government has successively reduced the UK Corporation Tax rate to support businesses both large and small. Now at 19% the UK Corporation Tax is currently the lowest in the G20. In April 2020 the Government will reduce the UK Corporation tax rate further to 17%.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he will take to reduce bank closures in rural areas.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that the closure of bank branches is a very important issue for many people, particularly in rural communities. However, banking service providers need to balance customer interests and other commercial factors when considering their strategies. Although the Government understands the dissatisfaction, it is right that decisions on opening and closing branches are taken by the management team of each bank on a commercial basis and the Government does not intervene in these decisions.
Government cannot reverse the changes in the market and in customer behaviour; nor can it determine firms’ commercial strategies in response to those changes. In 2018, two-thirds of UK adults used contactless payments, 72% used online banking and 48% used mobile banking, according to UK Finance. The Government is committed to ensuring that all areas of the UK benefit from world class digital connectivity, and we have invested heavily to meet that ambition. The £1.8bn superfast programme has ensured that 96% of the UK has access to download speeds of at least 24Mbps. For those premises that do not have access to download speeds of at least 10 Mbps, the Government have introduced the Universal Service Obligation (USO), which allows people to request a USO connection from the designated Universal Service provider, BT, from March 2020.
However, the Government still firmly believes that the impact of branch closures should be understood, considered, and mitigated where possible so that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have access to over-the-counter banking services if they wish to use them. That is why the Government is in full support of the voluntary Access to Banking Standard that the major high-street banks are signed up to. This commits them to keep customers well informed about branch closures, and to set out their reasons for closures and the alternative options for continued access to services. It is also why the Government supports the Post Office Banking Framework Agreement, which enables 99% of personal customers and 95% of small business customers to carry out their everyday banking at one of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have benefited from the Help to Buy ISA and how much this is in monetary terms in (a) Scotland and (b) Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk.
Answered by John Glen
Since the Help to Buy: ISA’s launch in 1 December 2015 till 31 December 2018, the Government has paid out 23,960 bonuses to individuals purchasing a home in Scotland, with a total value of £20,326,852. In Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk, 261 bonuses have been paid, with a total value of £198,112.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much gift aid have charities based in Scotland received in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The amount of Gift Aid paid to charities that have indicated to HMRC that they are registered in Scotland is £80 million in each of 2016, 2017 and 2018. Some of these charities may also be registered in England and Wales or Northern Ireland.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money has accrued to the public purse from the soft drinks levy in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) England.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Total receipts from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy duty are published here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/soft-drinks-industry-levy-statistics
Year-to-date, to April to December 2018, the total raised was £155m.
A breakdown of revenue for Soft Drinks Industry Levy by country is not available.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposal to raise income tax in Scotland on cross-border trade, employment and the location of businesses.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Scottish government announced proposals in December which will raise income tax for many Scottish taxpayers.
These decisions are a matter for the Scottish Government, following devolution of unprecedented income tax powers, giving the Scottish government more autonomy and accountability. Therefore, it is for the Scottish Government to decide whether to increase income taxes for Scottish taxpayers.
Analysis published by the Scottish Government shows nearly all of the benefit for lower earners in Scotland is a result of personal allowance increases, and that if the UK Government had not increased the personal allowance everyone in Scotland earning over £26,000 would pay more because of these changes.
Meanwhile, this UK Government will continue to operate an income tax system that best supports a strong and prosperous UK economy – an economy that has grown continuously for 19 quarters, with a deficit that has been reduced by three quarters since 2010 and an unemployment rate at its lowest in over 40 years.
We also continue to support lower earners by cutting income tax. As a result of successive increases to the personal allowance, 1.2m individuals will be taken out of income tax altogether by 2018-19 (compared to 2015-16), and a typical basic rate taxpayer will pay £1,075 less income tax in 2018-19 than in 2010-11.