Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the evidence of Kevin Nicholson, Head of Tax, PWC, to the Committee of Public Accounts of 31 January 2013, question 39, HC 870-i, if he will seek from Luxembourg's tax authorities information about who advised, sold, arranged or organised tax avoidance deals taking place in that country.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) routinely shares information with other tax administrations; this is normal practice and is one of many tools HMRC uses when enquiring into tax avoidance. Where risks are identified HMRC will challenge these robustly. HMRC have a legal duty of confidentiality which limits the information they can disclose, including to ministers. I therefore cannot provide any further information about the subject of any enquiries which they may make.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.243 of the Autumn Statement 2014, how he plans to assess the profits made by multinational corporations for the purpose of the diverted profits tax.
Answered by David Gauke
The legislation for the Diverted Profits Tax, and associated guidance, was published in draft form for technical consultation on the 10 December. This sets out in detail proposals as to how profits will be calculated for purposes of imposing a tax charge under the legislation. The period for technical consultation will conclude on the 4 February, after which the legislation and guidance will be finalised, with the intention of introducing this measure from 1 April 2015.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what investigations his Department is conducting on British companies and multinational companies trading in the UK described in documents leaked from PWC on their tax deals in Luxembourg.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs does not comment on the tax affairs of individual companies.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether profits reported by Big Four accountancy houses on the sale of tax avoidance schemes in Luxembourg are taxed in the UK.
Answered by David Gauke
I am unable to comment on the tax affairs of individual companies as doing so would be a breach of taxpayer confidentiality.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2015 to Question 219226 on multinational companies: tax avoidance, whether he has made any such request for the exchange of information with the Luxembourg tax authorities.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) routinely shares information with other tax administrations; this is normal practice and is one of many tools HMRC uses when enquiring into tax avoidance. Where risks are identified HMRC will challenge these robustly. HMRC have a legal duty of confidentiality which limits the information they can disclose, including to ministers. I therefore cannot provide any further information about the subject of any enquiries which they may make.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce legislative proposals to implement procedures which track transactions in foreign exchange markets to facilitate the detection of mispriced customer trades.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The UK currently has a transaction reporting regime that requires financial entities, including all investment firms and operators of regulated markets to report to the FCA, transactions that relate to financial instruments under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. This includes foreign exchange derivatives.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what access he has to evidence by the EU enquiry into the extent and the means of tax avoidance by multinational corporations through Luxembourg and the Irish Republic.
Answered by David Gauke
The European Commission has a duty of confidentiality to Member States in relation to the information they provide to the Commission. Where appropriate, HMRC can request information relevant to UK tax matters directly from the fiscal authorities in Member States under existing arrangements for the exchange of information.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has made to tax authorities in (a) Ireland and Luxembourg and (b) other EU countries to ensure that profits made in the UK can be taxed in the UK at UK tax rates.
Answered by David Gauke
Profit shifting by multinationals is a global problem. It is essential to look at this issue in a comprehensive and coordinated manner so that we can come up with effective solutions. The UK is at the forefront of multilateral action through the G20 and the OECD to reform the international tax standards.
The UK used its Presidency of the G8 to successfully build international support for this work. We are now playing a leading role in the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project to reform the international tax landscape in order to ensure that profits are taxed where economic activities are performed and where value is created.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has made to the Irish government about the double-Irish system of reducing the UK tax obligations of multinational corporations.
Answered by David Gauke
There are regular discussions of international tax issues in the ECOFIN Council, in the OECD and in other international fora including the G20. The UK is playing a leading role in reform of the international tax rules to ensure that companies pay their fair share.
The government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review. Changes to the UK tax system are announced as part of the normal fiscal cycle.
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 UK tax revenue foregone as a result of the double-Irish system.
Answered by David Gauke
There are regular discussions of international tax issues in the ECOFIN Council, in the OECD and in other international fora including the G20. The UK is playing a leading role in reform of the international tax rules to ensure that companies pay their fair share.
The government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review. Changes to the UK tax system are announced as part of the normal fiscal cycle.