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Written Question
Off-payroll Working
Tuesday 21st November 2023

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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

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.


Written Question
High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge
Thursday 16th November 2023

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 - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

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.


Written Question
Child Benefit: Apprentices
Wednesday 15th November 2023

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 - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

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.


Written Question
VAT: Tax Thresholds
Wednesday 15th November 2023

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 - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

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.


Written Question
Video Games: Tax Allowances
Tuesday 16th February 2021

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential economic merits of the Independent Game Developers' Association's proposal for an increase in the rate of video games tax relief from 25 per cent to 32 per cent.

Answered by Jesse Norman

In 2019-20 the Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR) supported UK expenditure of £355 million on the production of 150 video games.

The Government keeps all tax reliefs under review, and regularly receives proposals for changes to tax reliefs. When considering changes, HM Treasury must ensure they provide support to businesses across the economy in a fair way and represent good value for money for the taxpayer.


Written Question
Video Games: Tax Allowances
Wednesday 27th January 2021

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of Video Games Tax Relief to (a) jobs, (b) investment and (c) productivity in the UK video games sector.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

The government supported the completion of 150 video games in 2019-2020 via Video Games Tax Relief (VGTR), with UK expenditure of £355 million.

The government published an evaluation of VGTR in 2017, which can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/video-game-tax-relief-evaluation

Research showed that VGTR enabled developers to be more productive by giving them more stability and lowering their level of risk, enabling them to survive longer and look beyond immediate financial concerns to focus on expanding their business or improving their offer. The evaluation found concrete examples of inward investment, and indications that VGTR had stemmed the drain of UK talent to countries such as France and Canada.


Written Question
Research: Tax Allowances
Tuesday 26th January 2021

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) small and (b) large firms have claimed R&D Tax Relief since 2010.

Answered by Jesse Norman

HMRC publish annual statistics on the number and cost of claims for Research and Development (R&D) tax reliefs. The latest release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/corporate-tax-research-and-development-tax-credit.

Table RD1 gives the number of claims for the R&D tax relief split by all schemes since the relief was introduced for SMEs in 2000. The number of claims for R&D tax relief can be used to approximate the number of companies.

HMRC also publish annual statistics on the number and cost of claims for Creative Industry tax reliefs. The latest release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-august-2020.

Table 4.2 gives the number of companies which have claimed Video Games Tax Relief in each year since the relief was introduced in 2014.


Written Question
Video Games: Tax Allowances
Tuesday 26th January 2021

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many firms have claimed Video Games Tax Relief in each year since its introduction in 2014.

Answered by Jesse Norman

HMRC publish annual statistics on the number and cost of claims for Research and Development (R&D) tax reliefs. The latest release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/corporate-tax-research-and-development-tax-credit.

Table RD1 gives the number of claims for the R&D tax relief split by all schemes since the relief was introduced for SMEs in 2000. The number of claims for R&D tax relief can be used to approximate the number of companies.

HMRC also publish annual statistics on the number and cost of claims for Creative Industry tax reliefs. The latest release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-august-2020.

Table 4.2 gives the number of companies which have claimed Video Games Tax Relief in each year since the relief was introduced in 2014.


Written Question
Cash Dispensing: Stoke on Trent
Friday 15th January 2021

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to increase access to free-to-use cash machines in Stoke-on-Trent.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government recognises that cash remains important to millions of people across the UK and has committed to protecting access to cash for those that need it. The Government published a Call for Evidence on 15 October 2020 seeking views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system. The Call for Evidence closed on the 25 November 2020 and the Government is considering responses. Next steps will be set out in due course.

With regards to ATMs, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network) has existing commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs. LINK has taken action to ensure that remote and deprived areas continue to have access to free-to-use machines, and the Payment Systems Regulator continues to hold LINK to account over their commitments to maintain broad geographic coverage.

LINK has committed to protect free ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, for example through premium payments for ATMs in remote and deprived areas. LINK has also committed to protecting free access to cash on high streets – where there is a cluster of five or more retailers – that don’t have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre. LINK’s members have also made £5 million available to fund ATMs at the request of communities with poor access to cash.

Furthermore, there is an industry led initiative to implement Community Access to Cash Pilots. These pilots are to trial and test solutions for ensuring that communities can conveniently withdraw and deposit cash, and identify ways basic banking services can be better delivered, that could be adopted in other locations. Nine places were selected across the UK for these pilots, of which Burslem is one. The Burslem pilot includes a Post Office refurbishment and testing cashback without a purchase. The Government looks forward to the outcomes of these pilots.


Written Question
Cash Dispensing
Friday 15th January 2021

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made in ensuring access to cash in (a) Burslem and (b) England.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government recognises that cash remains important to millions of people across the UK and has committed to protecting access to cash for those that need it. The Government published a Call for Evidence on 15 October 2020 seeking views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system. The Call for Evidence closed on the 25 November 2020 and the Government is considering responses. Next steps will be set out in due course.

With regards to ATMs, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network) has existing commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs. LINK has taken action to ensure that remote and deprived areas continue to have access to free-to-use machines, and the Payment Systems Regulator continues to hold LINK to account over their commitments to maintain broad geographic coverage.

LINK has committed to protect free ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, for example through premium payments for ATMs in remote and deprived areas. LINK has also committed to protecting free access to cash on high streets – where there is a cluster of five or more retailers – that don’t have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre. LINK’s members have also made £5 million available to fund ATMs at the request of communities with poor access to cash.

Furthermore, there is an industry led initiative to implement Community Access to Cash Pilots. These pilots are to trial and test solutions for ensuring that communities can conveniently withdraw and deposit cash, and identify ways basic banking services can be better delivered, that could be adopted in other locations. Nine places were selected across the UK for these pilots, of which Burslem is one. The Burslem pilot includes a Post Office refurbishment and testing cashback without a purchase. The Government looks forward to the outcomes of these pilots.