Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to use tax receipts held by the HMRC in parity with the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to determine financial support for freelancers in the North Sea oil and gas supply industry facing financial difficulties.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme?will allow eligible individuals to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for 3 months.??Self-employed individuals, including members of partnerships, are eligible if they have submitted their Income Tax?Self Assessment?tax return for the tax year 2018-19, continued to trade and have lost trading/partnership trading profits due to COVID-19.
Alternatively, those who were on an employer's PAYE payroll on 19 March may be eligible to receive 80% of their usual monthly wages up to a maximum of £2,500 per month through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The CJRS is available to employers, including personal service companies, and individuals paying themselves a salary through a PAYE scheme are eligible.? The scheme covers employees on any type of contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts.
These schemes supplement the other significant support announced for UK businesses, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the deferral of tax payments. More information about the full range of business support measures is available at?www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will keep VAT to five per cent on new solar panel installations.
Answered by Jesse Norman
To comply with a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Government is required to make changes to the reduced rate of VAT for the installation of certain energy saving materials.
The changes have been made to comply with the ruling, whilst maintaining as much of the relief as possible. The VAT treatment of the vast majority of solar panel installations is expected to be unaffected by the changes.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to pages 5 and 16 of the Customs Bill White Paper (Cm 9502), whether the Government plans to negotiate a (a) highly streamlined customs arrangement or (b) new customs partnership with the EU.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In ‘Future customs arrangement – a future partnership paper’, the Government made it clear that in assessing the options for the UK’s future customs arrangements outside the EU Customs Union, the Government will be guided by what delivers the greatest economic advantage to the UK, and by three strategic objectives:
Ensuring UK-EU trade is as frictionless as possible;
Avoiding a ‘hard border’ between Ireland and Northern Ireland; and
Establishing an independent international trade policy.
The Government has identified two broad approaches to a future customs relationship with the EU that would facilitate these objectives – the ‘highly streamlined customs arrangement’ and a ‘new customs partnership’.
The Government is engaging with businesses from across the UK in order to develop these options further in advance of negotiations and ensure they meets business needs and contribute to the UK’s future prosperity.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the elasticities used to model the UK spirits market for the purposes of spirits revenue projection were last updated; and when his Department next plans to review those elasticities.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The elasticities used to model changes in revenue in the UK spirits market were last updated in December 2014. Full details of the elasticities and the methodology used to calculate them are included in the published working paper, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimation-of-price-elasticities-of-demand-for-alcohol-in-the-uk
The Office for Budget Responsibility do not publish the elasticities used within the alcohol duty forecasting models. However, these elasticities were last updated ahead of the March 2017 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The OBR state in paragraph 4.76 on page 121 that they “have updated the econometric models of alcohol clearances that underpin the forecast” and therefore the elasticities behind the alcohol duty forecasting models. Full details of the March 2017 Economic and Fiscal Outlook can be found here: http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/efo/economic-fiscal-outlook-march-2017/
All assumptions used for modelling are kept under review in consultation with the OBR.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how the rate of excise duty per litre of pure alcohol on spirits in the UK compares with that of other EU countries.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Information about alcohol duty rates by EU countries can be found in the “EXCISE DUTY TABLES (Alcoholic beverages).” document published online at:
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the 3.9 per cent increase in spirits duty in March 2017 on spirits revenue to the Exchequer in the first quarter of 2017-18.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The government published its assessment of the impacts of the alcohol duty changes in the Tax Information and Impact Note, which can be found online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rate-changes/alcohol-duty-rate-changes
The government ended the spirits duty escalator in 2014 with a duty freeze, followed by a cut in 2015 and a further freeze in 2016. The previous action taken means that the tax on a bottle of Scotch Whisky is now 90p lower than it would otherwise have been since ending the spirits duty escalator in 2014.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to support the Scotch whisky industry in the UK market.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The government published its assessment of the impacts of the alcohol duty changes in the Tax Information and Impact Note, which can be found online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rate-changes/alcohol-duty-rate-changes
The government ended the spirits duty escalator in 2014 with a duty freeze, followed by a cut in 2015 and a further freeze in 2016. The previous action taken means that the tax on a bottle of Scotch Whisky is now 90p lower than it would otherwise have been since ending the spirits duty escalator in 2014.