Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of raising the basic state pension by (a) 10, (b) 15 and (c) 20 per cent.
Answered by David Gauke
Forecasts of expenditure on the basic State Pension are published at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2014
In 2015/16 this is forecast to be approximately £68.45 billion in cash terms.
This can be used as the basis for calculating simple percentage increases.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which parties have been given access by his Department to the Sandstorm Report associated with the closure of The Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The information in this document was released in 2011 and is now in the public domain.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish in full Lord Justice Bingham's report, Inquiry into the Supervision of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, on the closure of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, completed in 1992.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The information in this document was released in 2011 and is now in the public domain.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the legal costs and fines recovered from (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) KPMG, (c) Ernst & Young and (d) Deloitte after tax courts and tribunals have rejected tax avoidance schemes designed by those firms in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has a very successful record of winning cases against avoidance schemes that taxpayers choose to litigate. They are successful in around 80% of these cases, and many taxpayers, of course, settle before reaching litigation. When successful, HMRC will request costs in appropriate cases. Under the normal court rules relating to costs, these are recovered from the litigant.
The Government has introduced the High Risk Promoters (Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes) legislation in Finance Act 2014 to tackle the small and persistent minority of promoters of tax avoidance schemes who display behaviours that are detrimental to the integrity of the tax system. The legislation enhances HMRC's ability to tackle promoters who commonly design, market and implement products which overwhelmingly do not work. It focuses on promoters who rely on non-cooperation with HMRC and may rely on concealment and mis-description of elements of their schemes to succeed. Such promoters must change their behaviour voluntarily or, if they do not do so, be subject to information powers which affect them, their intermediaries and their clients – meaning that promoters can be named and fined up to £1 million.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will appoint an independent commission to investigate claims about the roles of PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte in designing, selling and implementing tax avoidance schemes.
Answered by David Gauke
PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst & Young and Deloitte are members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales, a professional regulator. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is working with ICAEW and other professional regulators to strengthen their role in upholding professional standards.
In addition to this, the Government introduced the High Risk Promoters (Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes) legislation in Finance Act 2014 to tackle the small and persistent minority of promoters of tax avoidance schemes who display behaviours that are detrimental to the integrity of the tax system. The legislation enhances HMRC's ability to tackle promoters who commonly design, market and implement products which overwhelmingly do not work. It focuses on promoters who rely on non-cooperation with HMRC and may rely on concealment and mis-description of elements of their schemes to succeed. Such promoters must change their behaviour voluntarily or, if they do not do so, be subject to information powers which affect them, their intermediaries and their clients – meaning that promoters can be named and fined up to £1 million.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of raising personal tax allowances by 10 per cent.
Answered by David Gauke
This Government has increased the personal allowance from £6,475 to £10,600 over this Parliament. No estimate has been made of a 10% increase in personal tax allowances. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) do publish a ready reckoner of changes to the main rates and thresholds of UK taxes. This does not take into account behavioural change. This is available at:
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people are liable to pay income tax at the rates of (a) 10, (b) 20, (c) 40 and (d) 45 per cent.
Answered by David Gauke
Estimates of the number of taxpayers in each income tax rate band are published in HM Revenue and Custom's (HMRC) National Statistics table 2.1 which is available on the internet at the following address:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/404149/Table_2.1.pdf
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from (a) the EU Commission and (b) other EU Member States on the patent box legislation.
Answered by David Gauke
The UK is fully engaged with EU Commission and other EU Member States through the work of the EU Code of Conduct Group in their work on the UK Patent Box.
I refer the Hon Gentleman to the joint statement on 11 November 2014 agreed by the UK and Germany on the international governance of preferential IP regimes including the UK Patent Box. Parliament was informed of this in a Written Ministerial Statement delivered on 2nd December 2014. This proposal has been submitted to, and subsequently endorsed by, the EU Code of Conduct Group along with the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce legislation to make partners from accountancy firms ineligible for HM Treasury appointments if a tax tribunal or court finds that tax avoidance schemes marketed by such firms are unlawful.
Answered by David Gauke
All senior staff are appointed in line with the public appointments code.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the notional value of derivatives held by banks regulated by the UK authorities is; and what information his Department holds on the maturity and exposure of such derivatives.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
HM Treasury does not preserve specific information relating to the value, maturity or exposure of derivatives. Aggregate data on the derivative positions of UK banks is collected every quarter and made publicly available online by the Bank of England. The specific balance sheet position on derivatives for each bank will be published regularly in their annual report to shareholders.