Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with LINK on the numbers of free-to-use cash machines.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is currently taking legislation to protect access to cash across the UK through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The legislation will establish the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities.
With regards to the provision of free-to-use ATMs, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has made commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. According to LINK data for February 2023, there were 39,500 free-to-use ATMs across the UK. Further information is available at: https://www.link.co.uk/initiatives/financial-inclusion-monthly-report/
Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what further progress the Government has made on fiscal framework negotiations with the Scottish Government.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In June 2022, the UK Government and Scottish Government finalised arrangements for the independent report on tax and welfare Block Grant Adjustments, which was launched on the same day. Following a successful call for stakeholder evidence, the report is now being finalised by the independent authors and is expected to be presented to both governments imminently.
The two governments have also discussed the scope for the Fiscal Framework review while the independent report has been underway.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment his Department has undertaken of the cancelled duty freeze on the Scotch Whisky industry given the effect of RPI.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
On 17 October, the Chancellor announced a reversal of almost all of the tax measures set out in the Growth Plan that have not been legislated for in parliament. This includes the freeze of alcohol duty rates from 1 February 2023. The purpose is to ensure the UK’s economic stability and to provide confidence in the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline. The Chancellor made clear in his statement that the UK’s public finances must be on a sustainable path into the medium term.
The alcohol duty uprating decision and interactions with the wider Alcohol Duty Review, which continues as planned, will be considered in due course.
The government will continue to assess the impact of its decisions on alcohol duties, including through ongoing engagement with stakeholders.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of HMRC spirits excise duty receipts for 2021-22; and how the amount of revenue received by HM Treasury compares with projections for receipts for 2023-24.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
On 17 October, the Chancellor announced a reversal of almost all of the tax measures set out in the Growth Plan that have not been legislated for in parliament. This includes the freeze of alcohol duty rates from 1 February 2023. The purpose is to ensure the UK’s economic stability and to provide confidence in the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline. The Chancellor made clear in his statement that the UK’s public finances must be on a sustainable path into the medium term.
The alcohol duty uprating decision and interactions with the wider Alcohol Duty Review, which continues as planned, will be considered in due course.
The government will continue to assess the impact of its decisions on alcohol duties, including through ongoing engagement with stakeholders.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of cancelling the freeze in spirits excise duty on jobs maintained by Scotch Whisky distilleries.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
On 17 October, the Chancellor announced a reversal of almost all of the tax measures set out in the Growth Plan that have not been legislated for in parliament. This includes the freeze of alcohol duty rates from 1 February 2023. The purpose is to ensure the UK’s economic stability and to provide confidence in the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline. The Chancellor made clear in his statement that the UK’s public finances must be on a sustainable path into the medium term.
The alcohol duty uprating decision and interactions with the wider Alcohol Duty Review, which continues as planned, will be considered in due course.
The government will continue to assess the impact of its decisions on alcohol duties, including through ongoing engagement with stakeholders.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment his Department has made of the potential effects of cancelling freeze in spirits excise duty on investment by Scotch Whisky distilleries.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
On 17 October, the Chancellor announced a reversal of almost all of the tax measures set out in the Growth Plan that have not been legislated for in parliament. This includes the freeze of alcohol duty rates from 1 February 2023. The purpose is to ensure the UK’s economic stability and to provide confidence in the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline. The Chancellor made clear in his statement that the UK’s public finances must be on a sustainable path into the medium term.
The alcohol duty uprating decision and interactions with the wider Alcohol Duty Review, which continues as planned, will be considered in due course.
The government will continue to assess the impact of its decisions on alcohol duties, including through ongoing engagement with stakeholders.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people seeking refunds due to the changes made by the Morse Review have been refunded by HMRC to date.
Answered by Richard Fuller
I refer my hon. Member to the answer that was given to the Question UIN 59171.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason HMRC pursues employees complicit in the use of loan schemes and not employers.
Answered by Richard Fuller
Where an employee has used a disguised remuneration (DR) scheme, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will go to the employer to settle the tax due in the first instance. Approximately 80 per cent of the £3.4 billion HMRC brought into charge through DR settlements, between March 2016 and the end of March 2022, was from employers.
Liability for the tax is always that of the individual and HMRC will consider other options when collection from the employer is not possible, such as when the employer no longer exists or is based offshore. Parliament has provided a range of statutory powers allowing HMRC, in certain circumstances, to collect the amount due from the employee.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much it will cost to staff and administer the Loan Charge, including the cost of legal advice and consultants.
Answered by Richard Fuller
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold a breakdown of the total amount of costs relating to the Loan Charge. Although HMRC attributes sums to certain specific business areas, it cannot further break down the sums to cost specific tasks undertaken by those business areas.
The Loan Charge was introduced in 2016 to tackle disguised remuneration tax avoidance schemes. There are a number of different teams that work on the Loan Charge including policy, delivery, operational, and legal. HMRC will also sometimes resource from outside those teams; for example, HMRC will, when needed, incur costs instructing external bodies such as counsel.
To obtain and compile a total cost figure for all costs relating to the Loan Charge since 2016 would therefore come at a disproportionate cost.