Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's policy is on the landfill levy after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Government fully supports the environmental argument for minimising waste and increasing more sustainable alternatives to landfill, such as recycling. Landfill Tax has been key in helping to achieve this.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of private landlords who will be affected by the tax relief change to higher rate taxpayers announced in the Summer Budget 2015.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HMRC estimate that 1 in 5 landlords will pay more tax as a result of this measure.
Given that only a small proportion of the housing market is affected by this change, the Government does not expect these changes to have a large impact on rent levels or house prices. The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) also expects the impact on the housing market will be small.
The Government will double the housing budget from 2018-19 and has set out the most ambitious affordable housing plan since the 1970s to support working people in their aim to own their own home, together the measures in the plan amount to over £20 billion of investment in housing between 2016-17 and 2020-21.
The level of housing benefits is dependent on a number of factors such as, household and individual circumstances in regards to employment and household income, inflation and rents. The Government does not expect a large impact on rent levels from this policy, and any impact would be dampened in the short term due to other policy decisions. Therefore, the government does not anticipate changes to the overall level of housing benefits as a result. Nevertheless, the government will continue to monitor rental levels charged in the private rented sector.
Landlords are required to maintain their properties to a legal minimum standard. The reform to the wear and tear allowance means that all landlords will now be able to offset the costs of replacing furnishings in their properties removing the previous disincentive to do so. The Government therefore does not think that the changes to the tax rules will reduce standards for tenants.
Some landlords may face difficult decisions regarding their properties. This is why the Government has chosen to act in a proportionate and gradual way. Basic rate income tax relief will still be available on a landlord’s finance costs, the restriction will not be introduced until April 2017 and then it will be phased in over 4 years. This gives landlords time to plan ahead of the changes.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate how much air passenger duty was paid by passengers using Manchester Airport in each year since 2011.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs does not collect information on air passenger duty (APD) revenues by airport as APD is payable by airlines and not on a per airport basis.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate how much fuel duty was collected by filling stations in Greater Manchester in each year since 2011.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not collect fuel duty from filling stations. Fuel duty is paid on hydrocarbon oil when it is released for consumption in the UK, either from a UK refinery or an excise warehouse. HMRC therefore does not collect the data to produce a reliable estimate.
Fuel duty receipts for the whole of the UK are published by HMRC, and are available in the Hydrocarbon Oils Bulletin:
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was generated from VAT receipts in Greater Manchester in the last year for which information is available.
Answered by David Gauke
This level of detail is not requested on VAT returns and therefore we do not have data available on how much revenue is raised from VAT receipts in Greater Manchester.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answers of 3 February 2016 to Question 24298 and 8 March 2016 to Question 28866, on Revenue and Customs: Greater Manchester, whether any value for money review was undertaken on the decision to relocate staff from Phoenix House, Oldham to Manchester.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs has not undertaken a separate value for money review on the decision to relocate staff from Phoenix House, Oldham to Manchester. I refer you to my answer of 8 March.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2016 to Question 24298, on Revenue and Customs Greater Manchester, if he will place in the Library the value for money review of the decision made in February 2008.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs has not undertaken a separate value for money review of the decision in February 2008 to close the office at Phoenix House, Oldham. I refer you to my answer of 3 February 2016.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what formula was used to calculate the Government's proposed living wage.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Government has asked the Low Pay Commission to increase the National Living Wage to 60% of median earnings by 2020. This is a level consistent with the recommendations of leading experts in the Bain Report. Our target is for the National Living Wage to reach £9 by 2020.
On this basis, we have set the initial rate at £7.20 from April 2016. This marks the first step towards our target and represents a £900 a year increase in earnings for a full-time worker on the National Minimum Wage.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with which local authorities and combined authorities his Department is in discussions on retention of Stamp Duty income by local bodies.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Proposals are developed by and belong to local areas, therefore publication of proposals is a matter for individual places. Agreed devolution deal documents are published on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he was made aware of HM Revenue and Customs' original estimate of tax due by Google prior to the recent tax settlement with that company.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs is responsible for the conduct of tax enquiries, and Ministers are not informed of the progress of enquiries and play no part in agreeing the amount of tax to be paid by any taxpayer.