Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what rate of VAT is payable on eBooks (a) supplied by Amazon from Luxembourg and (b) supplied in the UK.
Answered by David Gauke
E-books supplied from a business in Luxembourg to a consumer in the UK are currently subject to a 3% rate of VAT in Luxembourg. E- books supplied by a UK VAT registered business are subject to UK VAT at 20%. From 1 January 2015 UK VAT of 20% will apply to both.
The European Commission publishes a summary of the VAT rates that apply in all Member States including those applicable to books and e-books. This is available on the Commission’s website at: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/rates/vat_rates_en.pdf
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sanctions his Department has imposed on Atos in response to delays in medical examinations in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
We have taken a robust approach to managing the contract with Atos Healthcare and have applied financial remedies such as service credits and awarded fees where and when appropriate.
From 1 March 2015, MAXIMUS Health and Human Services will take over the contract to deliver Work Capability Assessments.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many medical examinations in disability cases dealt with by Atos required a doctor in (a) Grimsby and (b) the rest of England in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
In 2014, there were 29,821 assessments completed nationally that required a doctor to undertake a Work Capability Assessment. 121 of these were completed for the Grimsby postcodes DN15 to DN20, DN31 to DN41 and DN55.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average delay has been in medical examinations of disability cases conducted by Atos in (a) Grimsby and (b) the rest of England in the last 12 months; what the main causes were of such delays; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
Official statistics for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) processing times are not readily available and to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to require that multinational corporations produce a breakdown of their profits earned in the UK and to report all payments of royalties, interest on borrowing and transfer pricing to other tax areas.
Answered by David Gauke
At the Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced that the UK will introduce legislation to implement the G20-OECD agreed model for country-by-country reporting, which requires multinational companies to provide tax authorities with high level information on profit, corporation tax paid and certain indicators of economic activity for risk assessment.
Draft legislation for Finance Bill 2015 was published on 10 December 2014 together with a Tax Information and Impact Note and an Explanatory Note.
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.