Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions but are not eligible for the Employment Allowance.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
For the tax year 2020-21, an estimated 520,000 employers were subject to Class 1 National Insurance liabilities and did not claim the Employment Allowance. This represents 32.5 per cent of employers with Class 1 National Insurance liabilities in the tax year 2020-21.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the economic impact of the super-deduction on business investment in (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Since the super-deduction took effect in the first quarter of 2021, business investment has gone up by 9 per cent year on year. In the latest Economy and Fiscal Outlook, the Office for Budget Responsibility have said that the super-deduction and the easing of global supply bottlenecks means they still expect historically high growth in business investment over 2022.
A full evaluation of the effectiveness of the super-deduction in stimulating business investment in both 2021-22 and 2022-23 will require HMRC to hold corporate tax returns for the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23. Any externally commissioned evaluation will be published in the usual way, in line with the Government Social Research Publication Protocol.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the distributional impact of financial decisions announced since the Spending Round 2019 on households in 2024-25, excluding benefits-in-kind from public services.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Chancellor’s assessment of the cash impact of tax and welfare decisions is shown in Chart 1.C, of “Impact on households: distributional analysis to accompany Spring Statement 2022”, where it is presented alongside the impact of benefits-in-kind from public services.
Taking into account spending on public services provides a more complete picture of Government policy, as it is an important element of the overall support provided by the government to households.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the planned cost is of the Innovation Challenge announced in the Spring Statement 2022.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no planned cost of the Innovation Challenge, and it will be delivered through the existing departmental resources.Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his proposed Public Sector Fraud Authority will (a) be established and (b) become operational.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Public Sector Fraud Authority was announced at spring forecast. It will become fully operational later this year. The Authority builds on the government’s existing Counter Fraud Function, which is operational now.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office of Budget Responsibility document entitled The effect of the personal allowance and higher rate threshold freezes on taxpayer numbers published on 13 January 2022, what assessment he has made of the impact of freezing the income tax (a) personal allowance and (b) higher rate threshold on the number of people who will be eligible to claim child benefit.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Child Benefit is a universal benefit payable to families as a contribution towards the costs of raising a child or children. Entitlement to Child Benefit is dependent on a person making a claim for it and it is not means-tested.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) was introduced in 2013 and is a tax charge which applies to anyone with an income of over £50,000 who gets Child Benefit, or whose partner gets it. The charge increases gradually for those with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000 and is equal to one per cent of a family’s Child Benefit for every extra £100 of income that is over £50,000 each year. Where income exceeds £60,000, the tax charge is equal to the amount payable in Child Benefit. Individuals can also opt-out of getting Child Benefit payments and avoid paying HICBC. The HICBC thresholds are not linked to the Income Tax higher rate threshold or the personal allowance.
The Government set the HICBC thresholds at these levels to help target public expenditure in the way it considered most effective. As with all elements of tax policy, the Government keeps this under review as part of the annual Budget process.
The number of people who will be required to pay the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge in future years will depend on many factors including the numbers of individuals who choose to opt-out of Child Benefit payments. Annual updates on the numbers of individuals who are liable to HICBC are published each Autumn at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-income-child-benefit-charge-data/high-income-child-benefit-charge.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people paid the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge in each year since 2011.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Child Benefit is a universal benefit payable to families as a contribution towards the costs of raising a child or children. Entitlement to Child Benefit is dependent on a person making a claim for it and it is not means-tested.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) was introduced in 2013 and is a tax charge which applies to anyone with an income of over £50,000 who gets Child Benefit, or whose partner gets it. The charge increases gradually for those with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000 and is equal to one per cent of a family’s Child Benefit for every extra £100 of income that is over £50,000 each year. Where income exceeds £60,000, the tax charge is equal to the amount payable in Child Benefit. Individuals can also opt-out of getting Child Benefit payments and avoid paying HICBC. The HICBC thresholds are not linked to the Income Tax higher rate threshold or the personal allowance.
The Government set the HICBC thresholds at these levels to help target public expenditure in the way it considered most effective. As with all elements of tax policy, the Government keeps this under review as part of the annual Budget process.
The number of people who will be required to pay the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge in future years will depend on many factors including the numbers of individuals who choose to opt-out of Child Benefit payments. Annual updates on the numbers of individuals who are liable to HICBC are published each Autumn at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-income-child-benefit-charge-data/high-income-child-benefit-charge.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be required to pay the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge in each of the next five years due to the the freeze in the income tax higher rate threshold.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Child Benefit is a universal benefit payable to families as a contribution towards the costs of raising a child or children. Entitlement to Child Benefit is dependent on a person making a claim for it and it is not means-tested.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) was introduced in 2013 and is a tax charge which applies to anyone with an income of over £50,000 who gets Child Benefit, or whose partner gets it. The charge increases gradually for those with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000 and is equal to one per cent of a family’s Child Benefit for every extra £100 of income that is over £50,000 each year. Where income exceeds £60,000, the tax charge is equal to the amount payable in Child Benefit. Individuals can also opt-out of getting Child Benefit payments and avoid paying HICBC. The HICBC thresholds are not linked to the Income Tax higher rate threshold or the personal allowance.
The Government set the HICBC thresholds at these levels to help target public expenditure in the way it considered most effective. As with all elements of tax policy, the Government keeps this under review as part of the annual Budget process.
The number of people who will be required to pay the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge in future years will depend on many factors including the numbers of individuals who choose to opt-out of Child Benefit payments. Annual updates on the numbers of individuals who are liable to HICBC are published each Autumn at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-income-child-benefit-charge-data/high-income-child-benefit-charge.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing the HMRC approved Mileage Allowance Payment rates for workers required to use vehicles for work journeys in the context of increases in (a) the cost of petrol and diesel prices and (b) total motoring costs since rates were last reviewed in 2011-12.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government sets the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rates to minimise administrative burdens.
Employers are not required to use the AMAPs rates. Instead, they can agree to reimburse the actual cost incurred, where individuals can provide evidence of the expenditure, without an Income Tax or National Insurance charge arising.
Alternatively, they can choose to pay a different mileage rate that better reflects their employees’ circumstances. However, if the payment exceeds the amount due under AMAPs, and this results in a profit for the individual, they will be liable to pay Income Tax and National Insurance contributions on the difference.
The Government keeps this policy under review.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any companies that have been sanctioned by the UK or are owned by people who have been sanctioned by the UK in relation to Russia's invasion of Ukraine received support through the coronavirus job retention scheme; and if he will publish details of these companies.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Company details in relation to those that have been sanctioned by the UK that have benefited from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) are not available.
However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) published a list of employers that claimed through the CJRS since December 2020, on 16 December 2021, which can be found on gov.uk: