Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the potential cost to the Exchequer of removing VAT from audiobooks; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The extension of the zero rate of VAT has been introduced to provide consistency in approach between certain physical and digital publications in order to support reading and literacy in all its forms. Audiobooks are already taxed consistently at the standard rate in both physical and digital format.
In UK law, a book is deemed to be something that is read or looked at, a definition that does not include audio content in both digital and physical form.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, including VAT.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of time was for Ministers of his Department to respond to correspondence from hon. Members in each month in the last two years.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Information on average response times is not held.
However, in 2019, the Treasury replied to 90% of MPs’ correspondence within 15 working days.
The Treasury has received unprecedented amounts of correspondence since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in the UK. All Member’s correspondence is currently receiving attention and will be responded to as soon as possible.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor for the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that people who are unable to open a bank account when the contract with Post Office Ltd for the Post Office Card Account ends are able to access cash.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The government believes that individuals, regardless of their background or income, should have access to useful and affordable financial products and services, including a bank account.
Basic bank accounts are a key financial inclusion policy. They provide people with a way of receiving income, whether that be salary, pension, benefits or tax credits and enable people to manage their money on a day-to-day basis effectively, securely and confidently. A basic bank account is fee-free for all everyday banking services and has no overdraft facility.
The 9 largest personal current account providers in the UK are legally required to offer fee-free basic bank accounts to customers who do not have a bank account in the UK or who are ineligible for a bank’s standard current account.
The Treasury publishes data on basic bank accounts annually. The December 2019 publication shows that in total there are nearly 7.5 million basic bank accounts open in the UK.
For people who cannot access a bank account, the Department for Work and Pensions will continue to offer the HMG Payment Exception Service that allows customers access to funds via PayPoint outlets.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of money received at post office branches for the payment of bills to HM Treasury in each year from 2004 to 2014; and how many payments there were in each of those years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In line with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) retention policy, figures are only held from 2009:
Year Volume Value
2009-2010 3,488,899 £2,954,071,169
2010-2011 3,043,659 £2,471,069,805
2011-2012 2,383,479 £2,424,727,453
2012-2013 2,363,532 £2,274,329,908
2013-2014 2,345,735 £2,094,782,172
2014-2015 2,220,883 £1,681,412,410
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons his Department did not adopt Santander's new electronic bill payment service for post offices.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fully investigated all alternative bill payment options including the replacement product offered by Santander at the Post Office, and found in that case that it was not technically or financially viable. The new system using bar-coded bills is not compatible with HMRC’s unique customer reference numbers for their various tax regimes. These reference numbers are essential in order to manage HMRC’s millions of customers and ensure payments are credited to customers’ records correctly and as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266803 on Taxation: Electronic Government, when he plans to open a consultation on proceeding with Making Tax Digital for Corporation Tax.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government will formally consult before any decision is taken to proceed with Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Corporation Tax. Any announcement will be considered as part of the fiscal events process, and made in due course.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons (a) co-operatives and (b) community benefit societies were excluded from using CATO software under HMRC’s Making Tax Digital scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Making Tax Digital (MTD) has made no changes to the rules on who can file their Corporation Tax (CT) returns through the Company Accounts Tax Online (CATO) system. The Government will formally consult before any decision is taken to proceed with MTD for CT. When it consults, it will consider fully the needs of co-operatives, community benefit societies and others, and these sectors will all have the opportunity to make representations.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the usership of CATO software under HMRC’s Making Tax Digital scheme to include (a) co-operatives and (b) community benefit societies.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Making Tax Digital (MTD) has made no changes to the rules on who can file their Corporation Tax (CT) returns through the Company Accounts Tax Online (CATO) system. The Government will formally consult before any decision is taken to proceed with MTD for CT. When it consults, it will consider fully the needs of co-operatives, community benefit societies and others, and these sectors will all have the opportunity to make representations.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether CATO software under HMRC’s Making Tax Digital scheme is able to be developed to include (a) co-operatives and (b) community benefit societies.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Making Tax Digital (MTD) has made no changes to the rules on who can file their Corporation Tax (CT) returns through the Company Accounts Tax Online (CATO) system. The Government will formally consult before any decision is taken to proceed with MTD for CT. When it consults, it will consider fully the needs of co-operatives, community benefit societies and others, and these sectors will all have the opportunity to make representations.
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposals to increase VAT on solar panels by 20 per cent of the affordability by households of solar technology.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Under EU law the Government is required to make changes to the reduced rate of VAT for the installation of certain energy saving materials.
The changes have been made to comply with European VAT rules while maintaining as much of the relief as possible.
The VAT treatment of the majority of solar panel installations is expected to be unaffected by the changes.