Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the potential economic benefits of entering European Union customs union membership.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
No. The Government is working with the EU to identify areas where we can strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit, such as the economy, energy, security and resilience. There will be no return to the customs union. We are committed to finding constructive ways to work together and deliver for the British people.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will pause action related to the IR35 loan charge while the newly announced review is underway.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
IR35 rules are distinct from the Loan Charge.
The Government has now announced a further independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers. The Government will provide further details on the review in due course.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of broadening the definition of research and development activities that qualify for tax relief to include research and development undertaken by creative industries.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Qualifying R&D is defined as a project seeking to achieve an advance in science or technology through the resolution of uncertainty, which allows claims from creative sectors.
In the 2021 consultation on R&D tax reliefs, there was a strong consensus amongst respondents that the definition of “R&D” itself does not require amending given it is well understood, embedded and consistent with the OECD Frascati standard, including the core criteria within it. The government currently has no intention to change the definition, since this would add further complexity and uncertainty at a time when the government is prioritising stability and simplification.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a quality assurance process for status determination statements.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government keeps all tax policy and legislation under review.
To help customers make an informed decision on a worker’s status for tax, HMRC provides comprehensive online guidance that explains the relevant factors and tests and how to apply them.
HMRC also provides the Check Employment Status for Tax tool (CEST) for free to help customers determine the employment status for tax of an engagement. CEST was developed alongside tax specialists and HMRC will stand by a determination from CEST if the tool was used in accordance with HMRC guidance.
HMRC regularly engages with stakeholders and reviews its guidance products. HMRC will amend or add to guidance in response to stakeholder feedback where this improves the content or customer experience.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will consult stakeholders on the adequacy of its guidance on the status determination statement process.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government keeps all tax policy and legislation under review.
To help customers make an informed decision on a worker’s status for tax, HMRC provides comprehensive online guidance that explains the relevant factors and tests and how to apply them.
HMRC also provides the Check Employment Status for Tax tool (CEST) for free to help customers determine the employment status for tax of an engagement. CEST was developed alongside tax specialists and HMRC will stand by a determination from CEST if the tool was used in accordance with HMRC guidance.
HMRC regularly engages with stakeholders and reviews its guidance products. HMRC will amend or add to guidance in response to stakeholder feedback where this improves the content or customer experience.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review Section 684 activities with reference to the Loan Charge.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Section 684 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act (ITEPA) 2003 provides for the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) regulations. In 2022, the Court of Appeal considered HMRC’s use of section 684(7A)(b) in relation to a disguised remuneration scheme.
The Chancellor and I know that the loan charge is a very important matter for many members and their constituents. We have been considering this matter since taking office and will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the impact of raising wine duty on revenue raised by his Department.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
The Government will make and announce any alcohol decisions at Spring Budget 2024. Duty freezes to alcohol duty over the last decade have amounted to a total tax cut of £12.9 billion to the alcohol industry, including the duty freeze up to 1 August 2024 announced at Autumn Statement 2023.
Before Autumn Statement 2023, since ending the duty escalator for wine in 2013, the wine industry has benefitted from cuts or freezes to wine duty at four out of the last nine fiscal events.
The latest receipts for alcohol duty including wine duty can be found at the following link:
Alcohol Bulletin commentary (November 2023 to January 2024) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to reduce excise duty on wine.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
The Government will make and announce any alcohol decisions at Spring Budget 2024. Duty freezes to alcohol duty over the last decade have amounted to a total tax cut of £12.9 billion to the alcohol industry, including the duty freeze up to 1 August 2024 announced at Autumn Statement 2023.
Before Autumn Statement 2023, since ending the duty escalator for wine in 2013, the wine industry has benefitted from cuts or freezes to wine duty at four out of the last nine fiscal events.
The latest receipts for alcohol duty including wine duty can be found at the following link:
Alcohol Bulletin commentary (November 2023 to January 2024) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making the easement for levying wine duty permanent.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)
As part of the new alcohol duty system, the Government introduced a wine easement for 18 months which will last until February 2025. During this period, all wine between 11.5-14.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) will pay duty as if it were 12.5% ABV. This gives the wine industry over two years to adapt to the new system.
The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the recent reforms and will evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023. This will allow time to understand the impacts on the alcohol market, and for HMRC to gather useful and accurate data with which to evaluate the effects of the reform.
As with all taxes, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review during its yearly Budget process.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department takes to help ensure that (a) companies and (b) other organisations accurately determine whether someone is self-employed for tax purposes under the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 guidance.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
To help customers make an informed decision on a worker’s status for tax, HMRC provides comprehensive online guidance that explains the relevant factors and tests and how to apply them.
HMRC also provides its digital Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) tool to support employers and workers determine the employment status of an engagement.
The Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 contains a number of provisions related to appeal rights and determining disputes. In 2021, the Government introduced a disagreement process to allow workers to challenge the status determination they have been given under the off payroll working rules with their engager.
The Government keeps all tax policy and legislation under review. HMRC regularly reviews its guidance products and amends or adds to them where this improves the content or customer experience.
For example, HMRC has recently published guidelines for compliance to help organisations comply with the Off-Payroll Working rules contained in Chapter 10 of Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.