Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, where fraudsters have been identified by HMRC, if they have been issued an agent code.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC has a duty to protect the tax system from potential fraudulent repayment claims being made which undermine both public confidence in the system and reduces the amount of money available to fund our vital public services.
Over 90 per cent of HMRC’s Income Tax Self-Assessment repayment requests come from a genuine person and are paid without suspension or intervention. However, their systems are continually under attack from fraudsters.
Over the last 8 years, HMRC have successfully countered fraudulent repayments through rigorous risk assessment and other upstream initiatives. However, the volume of attempts to defraud them has also increased and they must continually adapt their response.
A release of the information requested in these questions, including the numbers of cases worked and the outcome of those cases, could undermine the compliance activity which HMRC are undertaking. This could in turn prejudice any investigations into suspected repayment fraud.
Where a fraudster has been identified, HMRC will not give them agent codes and will suspend any codes that may already be active in order to maintain the integrity of the tax system, safeguard customer data, and protect revenues.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to fraudsters who have been identified by HMRC, did those persons fraudulently register as authorised tax agents or advisers.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC has a duty to protect the tax system from potential fraudulent repayment claims being made which undermine both public confidence in the system and reduces the amount of money available to fund our vital public services.
Over 90 per cent of HMRC’s Income Tax Self-Assessment repayment requests come from a genuine person and are paid without suspension or intervention. However, their systems are continually under attack from fraudsters.
Over the last 8 years, HMRC have successfully countered fraudulent repayments through rigorous risk assessment and other upstream initiatives. However, the volume of attempts to defraud them has also increased and they must continually adapt their response.
A release of the information requested in these questions, including the numbers of cases worked and the outcome of those cases, could undermine the compliance activity which HMRC are undertaking. This could in turn prejudice any investigations into suspected repayment fraud.
Where a fraudster has been identified, HMRC will not give them agent codes and will suspend any codes that may already be active in order to maintain the integrity of the tax system, safeguard customer data, and protect revenues.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cases have there been identified by the HMRC team looking into cases of false self-assessment filing to date.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC has a duty to protect the tax system from potential fraudulent repayment claims being made which undermine both public confidence in the system and reduces the amount of money available to fund our vital public services.
Over 90 per cent of HMRC’s Income Tax Self-Assessment repayment requests come from a genuine person and are paid without suspension or intervention. However, their systems are continually under attack from fraudsters.
Over the last 8 years, HMRC have successfully countered fraudulent repayments through rigorous risk assessment and other upstream initiatives. However, the volume of attempts to defraud them has also increased and they must continually adapt their response.
A release of the information requested in these questions, including the numbers of cases worked and the outcome of those cases, could undermine the compliance activity which HMRC are undertaking. This could in turn prejudice any investigations into suspected repayment fraud.
Where a fraudster has been identified, HMRC will not give them agent codes and will suspend any codes that may already be active in order to maintain the integrity of the tax system, safeguard customer data, and protect revenues.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether SA1 registration forms for Self-Assessment are retained by HMRC after processing.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Paper SA1 Registrations forms are retained for three years after processing. In cases where the SA1 cannot be processed because there is insufficient information, a letter is sent to the customer requesting that information and the SA1 is deleted. The letter tells the customer to complete a new registration form.
SA1 forms submitted online are not retained.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the loss to the Exchequer of tax revenue through tax scams.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The information requested is not available as HMRC does not make an estimate of the amount of revenue lost through tax scams.
HMRC estimates the tax gap which is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. For the tax year 2019-20, the tax gap arising from criminal attacks on the tax system was £5.2 billion.
Tax gap statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he or any of the Ministers of his Department use personal email addresses to conduct Government business.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
I refer the Hon. Member to the Cabinet Office guidance to departments on use of private emails (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-departments-on-private-email-use). This states that civil servants and Ministers are generally provided with access to Government email systems. Other forms of electronic communication may be used in the course of conducting Government business, in line with security and record-keeping requirements.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which of his Department's non-executive directors were appointed through open competition.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
All HM Treasury Non-Executive Directors were recruited according to the guidance set out in the Corporate governance code for central government departments.
HM Treasury announces the appointments (including reappointment dates) of Non-Executive Directors, as well as their experience, in the Annual Report and Accounts. Our current Non-Executives are covered in the following Annual Report and Accounts.
Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15 (Page 24, 41)
Annual Report and Accounts 2015-16 (Page 41)
Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19 (Page 45)
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which Minister is responsible for the allocation of the £22 billion of funding for research and development announced in the Queen's Speech 2021.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Many government departments and agencies fund and undertake Research and Development. Departmental allocations are determined at Spending Reviews.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department plans to use for the allocation of the £22 billion of funding for research and development announced in the Queen's Speech 2021.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Many government departments and agencies fund and undertake Research & Development. Decisions on R&D spending beyond 2021-22 will be taken as part of the next Spending Review.
The Government carefully considers its plans to spend public money and how best to ensure value for the taxpayer. Regular spending reviews set budgets across all government departments and provide an opportunity to take a systematic view across all spending.
Further details about the Spending Review will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to support community pharmacies.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We recognise the vital role community pharmacies have played throughout the pandemic, and have put in place a comprehensive package of support: