Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of current arrangements for the transition to Making Tax Digital on (a) small and medium-sized enterprises, (b) businesses that are not yet digital and (c) businesses in rural areas.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
On 13 July the Government announced changes to the Making Tax Digital (MTD) legislation to be included in the next Finance Bill. Only businesses with turnover above the VAT threshold will be mandated to use MTD from April 2019 and then only to meet VAT obligations. Further details are available in the Written Statement that was issued on 13 July:
The impact assessment published on 8 March will therefore be updated in due course.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will research international best practise better to tackle international corporate tax criminality.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The UK works with its international partners at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) to tackle illicit financial flows, including those relating to tax criminality. The FATF’s global standards on AML/CTF, which were most recently agreed in 2012, require countries to criminalise both indirect and direct tax crimes as a predicate offence to money laundering. FATF countries are then periodically evaluated against these standards.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the National Productivity Investment will be spent in (a) Scotland and (b) London in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The National Productivity Investment Fund will provide investment in areas that are critical for UK productivity: housing, R&D and economic infrastructure.
The UK government has allocated £740m of funding for digital infrastructure and around £4.7bn funding for R&D which will be available across the UK.
Responsibility for housing and much infrastructure policy is devolved. As a result the NPIF represents a significant increase in funding through the Barnett Formula of £800m to the Scottish Government, £400m to the Welsh government and £250m to the Northern Ireland Executive.
The government is focused on delivering the NPIF and allocating it to programmes and projects that support growth and jobs. Last week saw the launch of the £2.3bn Housing Infrastructure Fund, which was opened to local authorities to bids. We will announce detailed allocations of this and the other aspects of the NPIF in due course.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to review his Department's policies in light of the relative gain in strength of the Euro against sterling.
Answered by David Gauke
The UK has an inflation target, not an exchange rate target, and the Government does not express a view on the level of the exchange rate. Instead, the exchange rate is allowed to adjust flexibly in response to economic conditions and movements in sterling are determined by market forces.
There will be a period of adjustment as the economy responds to the vote to leave the European Union. The UK is well-placed to deal with the challenges, and take advantage of the opportunities, that lie ahead.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the UK economy of the recent fall in the value of sterling against the US dollar.
Answered by David Gauke
Before the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU, the UK government published short-term and long-term assessments of the likely impact on the UK economy from leaving the EU, including the effects of sterling revaluation. HM Government is monitoring economic developments closely and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility will produce an updated economic forecast alongside Autumn Statement 2016.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the effect will be on the Scottish Government's block grant of the recent announcement of funding for Crossrail 2 for London and High Speed 3 for England.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Barnett Formula was applied in the usual way to the Department for Transport’s budget at Spending Review 2015, and will continue to be applied as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy at future Spending Reviews and other fiscal events.