Tax Avoidance (HSBC)

Debate between David Gauke and Kevin Brennan

Monday 9th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

My hon. Friend is more worldly than I am, perhaps, but he raises an important point. We have tried to do many things to reduce tax avoidance and evasion, but I accept that we have not been able to go back in time and stop it happening before we came to office.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Ten years ago, when the Minister’s party was in opposition, Conservative Members, including the Chancellor, were calling for less, not more, regulation of the banks and the City. Will Lord Green be at the Tory party’s black and white ball tonight for the uber-rich, and will the Minister advise Lord Green, if he has any spare cash, to donate it back to the taxpayer, instead of to the Tory party?

[Mr Gauke]

I think the hon. Gentleman has just made the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) raised in the previous question.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Gauke and Kevin Brennan

Tuesday 2nd September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

2. If he will take steps to allow the Office for Budget Responsibility to audit the spending plans of political parties.

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

Autumn statement 2013 announced that, as required by legislation, the OBR is launching an external review of its publications over the course of 2014. The external review team will publish its independent report tomorrow. Following the outcome of that review, the Government will hold their own review of the OBR at the start of the next Parliament.

[Kevin Brennan]

That was very interesting but it had nothing to do with the question. The figure of £21 billion that the Chancellor mentioned in his answer to question 1 will presumably be sent now by the Minister to the OBR to be checked as to whether it is factually correct, or is the figure a political smear, as usual from the Chancellor, that he is not prepared to stand up by sending it for scrutiny to the OBR—yes or no?

[Mr Gauke]

Much of that £21 billion figure is based on the Labour party’s own announcements. I do not know why the hon. Gentleman is complaining about that. If the Labour party wants to have credibility on fiscal policy, perhaps it should stop making so many announcements of spending splurges. Our view is that the OBR is in its infancy. We want the organisation to succeed and therefore do not want to draw it into party political matters.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Gauke and Kevin Brennan

Tuesday 25th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

I do agree. What we have done is quite a contrast with what was done by the last Government, who increased the amount of income tax that some low earners would have to pay by £232. Now the equivalents of those people have been taken out of income tax altogether.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

If everything is better for the average family, why did the Institute for Fiscal Studies say that the average family was £891 worse off? Was the IFS wrong?

[Mr Gauke]

We do not accept those figures. What I will say is that we have been prepared to tackle the biggest deficit in our peacetime history. We have taken measures to put the public finances back on a sustainable footing, with no help from the Labour party, which has opposed every measure that we have taken to do that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Gauke and Kevin Brennan

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

Increasingly, artificial contrived behaviour is something that all of us, including the public, simply do not accept. My hon. Friend is right to say that this is a board matter, and boards should take tax policy seriously. Companies should think very seriously about aggressive, artificial, contrived behaviour and there is low tolerance for such behaviour.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Did the Minister see the footage that recently came to light of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, then in opposition, appearing on the “Daily Politics” programme and advising the public about how to take advantage of tax loopholes?

[Mr Gauke]

This Chancellor has done more to tackle tax avoidance than any of his predecessors, and this Government have taken tax compliance much more seriously. I will give one more statistic: when we took office the yield from HMRC’s enforcement and compliance activity was £13 billion. We expect that number to have increased to £22 billion by the end of this Parliament. We are taking real steps to address this matter.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Gauke and Kevin Brennan

Tuesday 26th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

I am sure the hon. Lady is aware that Greggs welcomed what we said about hot food. None the less, there has been an anomaly in the tax system whereby some hot foods have been treated differently from others. We are seeking to remove that anomaly and that is exactly what we are doing.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

16. What recent estimate he has made of the effects of his fiscal policies on the rate of growth in output.

Budget Leak Inquiry

Debate between David Gauke and Kevin Brennan

Thursday 22nd March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

There is a theory that we might have wanted to help him, but I can assure my hon. Friend that that is not the case, although I can see the argument why the Leader of the Opposition might have wanted that help.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

By describing the systematic and orchestrated leaks as somehow an accident, does the Minister not realise that he and the Chancellor remind people of Captain Renault in “Casablanca” when he goes into Rick’s place and is shocked to discover gambling going on, even as he collects his own winnings? Is this approach not simply amoral, and should Ministers not have a higher standard around the Budget?

[Mr Gauke]

I am afraid that if we were looking at the previous Government we could round up the usual suspects there, because there was plenty of leaking under them, but we heard none of the synthetic outrage from the Labour party then.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between David Gauke and Kevin Brennan

Tuesday 12th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

As was made clear in the Chief Secretary to the Treasury’s statement, the Government are determined to reduce the tax gap. It currently stands at £42 billion. It is too high, but we are determined to take measures to address it and we have already announced proposals by which we can reduce the tax gap.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

2. What representations he has received on variations between the English regions and constituent parts of the UK in respect of the effects of the measures in the June 2010 Budget.

PAYE Contributions

Debate between David Gauke and Kevin Brennan

Wednesday 8th September 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

My hon. Friend is right that we are consulting on moving towards a real-time system. I do not pretend for a moment that it is an overnight solution, but we are examining it so that over the next few years, we can move to a system that gives HMRC, which will of course continue to administer it, information that is up to date and adjustable in-year. That will ensure that we get a much greater level of accuracy in our tax system.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

Like all hon. Members, the Minister will have constituents visiting him who have underpaid tax and who will feel that that is no fault of their own, and yet, under the system as it exists, they will be expected to pay back in full. Has he given any consideration to recognising clearly in the amount that must be paid back that our constituents have acted in good faith and that the fault lies elsewhere?

[Mr Gauke]

As I said earlier, concession A19 is for taxpayers who have acted in good faith when HMRC has had an opportunity to respond. However, I should also make the point that PAYE has always involved circumstances in which information comes to light after the tax year is completed and an adjustment must be made. That has happened throughout the existence of PAYE, but it has increased over the years as working patterns have changed, which is why we need to look at more fundamental reform of PAYE.