Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance HM Revenue and Customs has issued on to the sale of Right to Buy properties.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC capital gains tax (CGT) guidance in connection with selling a home is available on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/tax-sell-home.
Self-assessment Helpsheets 281 and 283 also contain information about the amount of CGT private residence relief available when a person sells a property that has been their only or main residence at some time during their ownership, including how the relief applies to married couples and civil partnerships. These are available, respectively, at www.gov.uk/government/publications/husband-and-wife-civil-partners-divorce-dissolution-and-separation-hs281-self-assessment-helpsheet and www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-residence-relief-hs283-self-assessment-helpsheet.
More detailed information on CGT is available in HMRC’s Capital Gains Tax Manual at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual.
There are no separate CGT rules for properties acquired under the Right to Buy arrangements.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will male an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to abolish the changes to the IR35 off-payroll working rules introduced in April 2021.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Off-payroll working reform was introduced for the public sector in 2017 and to medium and large sized businesses in the private and voluntary sectors in 2021. The reforms did not change the underlying rules but shifted responsibility for determining the employment status for tax purposes of someone working through their own intermediary from the intermediary to the client organisation engaging them.
The reforms tackle non-compliance with the existing off-payroll working rules and have been successful in doing so: more people who are working like employees are paying taxes like employees, improving fairness in the tax system.
Keeping the 2017 and 2021 reforms in place protects around £2 billion a year of Government revenue, and the Government has no plans to repeal them.
The Government continues to monitor the impacts of the reforms and published HMRC-commissioned, and its own analysis in December 2022. The Government has already committed to updating the internal analysis with the latest data in due course. The Government has already committed to updating the internal analysis with the latest data in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of ending the high income child benefit charge.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Government is committed to managing the public finances in a disciplined and responsible way.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) ensures that the Government supports the majority of families whilst keeping welfare expenditure sustainable.
Most families are unaffected. In 2020-21, (the latest year that data is available), the HICBC raised over £400m in revenue. 99.7% of those who declared a liability for HICBC paid income tax at the higher rate or above, and 88% of Child Benefit claimants were unaffected by the HICBC.
The Government therefore considers that keeping the HICBC in place remains appropriate, but keeps all tax policies under review.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending child benefit to families with children aged under 19 enrolled on apprenticeships.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
The Government is not considering extending Child Benefit payments to parents of children aged under 19 enrolled on apprenticeships.
Child Benefit is payable to parents of children up to the age of 16. Between the ages of 16 and 20, it is payable in respect of young people who remain in full-time non-advanced education or approved training provided outside a contract of employment. This includes A-Levels or the equivalent, but not advanced courses such as university degrees.
One of the core principles of an apprenticeship is that it is a paid job with training, allowing apprentices to earn while they learn, and it is treated accordingly in the benefit system. It is therefore appropriate that payments for the young person cease from this point.
For waged apprenticeships, since April 2023 employers are required to pay a minimum wage of £5.28 an hour, and many tend to pay more as young people develop their skills. A young person working 35 hours a week on a waged apprenticeship should earn no less than £184.80 each week.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of raising the VAT registration threshold to £250,000.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Views on the VAT registration threshold are divided and the case for change has been regularly reviewed over the years.
In 2018, the Government consulted on how the design of the VAT registration threshold could better incentivise growth. However, there was no clear option for reform.
While the Government keeps all taxes under review, it was announced at Autumn Budget 2022 that the VAT threshold will be maintained at its current level of £85,000 until 31 March 2026.