Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to reduce differences between the level of tax applied to (a) physical and (b) online businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
To provide stability and predictability to both physical and online businesses, the government published its Corporate Tax Roadmap at Autumn Budget 2024. The roadmap committed to maintaining the main rate of Corporation Tax at 25%, which is the lowest in the G7, as well as a maintaining the UK’s generous R&D tax reliefs and world-leading capital allowance offer.
The Government also wants to ensure that the business rates burden is permanently rebalanced. That is why we have announced our intention to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties, with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000 from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
We intend to fund these through introducing a higher multiplier for the highest value properties – those with RVs of £500,000 or above. These high-value properties cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by the online giants.
The final design of the new business rate multipliers, including their rates, will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes, as well as the economic and fiscal context.
To ensure that digital services providers pay their fair share of UK tax, the UK introduced the Digital Services Tax (DST) which is a 2 per cent tax levied on search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces to reflect the value they derive from UK users.
Asked by: John Whitby (Labour - Derbyshire Dales)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that banks abide by the Payment Systems Regulator's new mandatory reimbursement framework and swiftly investigate cases of APP fraud.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this appalling crime. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is the independent regulator with responsibility for the Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam reimbursement regime.
The PSR’s rules require in scope Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to reimburse victims of APP scams, which take place over the Faster Payments System, within five business days of making a claim. However, PSPs may take longer in specific circumstances, including where it may need more time to gather sufficient information from the victim or third parties to help assess the claim.
To monitor the success and impact of its regime, the PSR has committed to commission an independent post-implementation review of its policy after 12 months of the policy being in force.
On 11 March, the Government announced its intentions to consolidate the PSR and its functions primarily within the FCA. The PSR continues to be an independent economic regulator with full access to its statutory powers until legislation is passed to change this and APP scam victims will continue to benefit from the same levels of protection.