Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to include the Roadchef Employee Benefits scheme in the schedule of tax-exempt share ownership schemes as outlined in EDM 268 on Fair tax and employee share ownership.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs, who have indicated that they are in dialogue with the taxpayer. It would not be appropriate for Treasury ministers to become involved in the administration of the tax system in specific cases.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will takes steps to assist the 77 poorest countries to meet the (a) challenges and (b) effect of the covid-19 pandemic by (i) cancelling the bilateral debt payments already suspended for 2020 between those countries and the UK for 2020 and 2021, (ii) encouraging the (A) World Bank and (B) IMF to cancel such payments, (iii) discouraging other UK creditors not to initiate legal action against any of the 77 poorest countries that default on their 2020 and 2021 debt payments and (iv) initiating an international arrangement for the restructuring of the debts owed by those countries to render their future payments economically sustainable.
Answered by John Glen
The Chancellor joined his G20 counterparts to commit to a temporary suspension on debt service repayments from the 77 poorest countries under the debt service suspension initiative (DSSI). The DSSI extends to the end of the 2020, but the G20 will review the possibility for extension later this year, based on advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG).
At Budget, the Chancellor announced a leading contribution of up to £150m to the IMF’s Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, which will provide the world’s poorest countries relief on IMF repayments. The WBG has made available significant amounts of new finance to help countries counter the effects of the pandemic, ensuring net positive financing flows to all DSSI eligible countries. For the poorest countries at high risk of debt distress, support from the World Bank’s International Development Association is provided on grant terms and does not add to debt vulnerabilities.
The Chancellor and his G20 counterparts called upon commercial creditors to participate in the DSSI on comparable terms to the official sector on a voluntary basis. It will be important that developing countries do not see their access to international capital markets become too costly or restricted as mobilising private finance will be essential for crisis recovery and long-term sustainable development.
The DSSI provides time to assess what further assistance for may be needed for these countries on a case-by-case basis. If debts do require restructuring, the UK will work with the Paris Club of official creditors, IMF, and WBG to support equitable debt reductions to long-term sustainable growth.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Sir Amyas Morse's Review of the Loan Charge, what estimate he has made of the the number of people now due for a repayment of Voluntary Restitution relating to payroll loan schemes covered by the 2019 Loan Charge; and of those cases how many (a) companies and individuals have already entered into insolvency and (b) individuals are known to have sold a property in order to pay the Voluntary Restitution which will now be repaid.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
An estimated 1,000 individuals and 1,000 employers who have already settled their disguised remuneration liability will be due a repayment of voluntary restitution.
HMRC do not have estimates of the number who have entered insolvency or sold properties.
HMRC currently estimate that about £380m of voluntary restitution could be refunded to employers and individuals as a result of the change, with the vast majority estimated to be due to employers. The final value could depend on whether all eligible taxpayers claim their refund and whether, in line with the recommendation of the independent review accepted by the Government, refunds need to be reduced to prevent an unintended windfall, for example where an employer has enjoyed corporation tax relief on the voluntary restitution that they paid.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Sir Amyas Morse's Review of the Loan Charge, what estimate he has made of the (a) amount that HMRC will repay in Voluntary Restitutions in relation to payroll loan schemes covered by the 2019 Loan Charge already received, (b) number of employers that will receive a payment and (c) the value of the repayments received by employers.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
An estimated 1,000 individuals and 1,000 employers who have already settled their disguised remuneration liability will be due a repayment of voluntary restitution.
HMRC do not have estimates of the number who have entered insolvency or sold properties.
HMRC currently estimate that about £380m of voluntary restitution could be refunded to employers and individuals as a result of the change, with the vast majority estimated to be due to employers. The final value could depend on whether all eligible taxpayers claim their refund and whether, in line with the recommendation of the independent review accepted by the Government, refunds need to be reduced to prevent an unintended windfall, for example where an employer has enjoyed corporation tax relief on the voluntary restitution that they paid.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the value of business rates relief allocated to UK supermarkets; whether supermarkets have experienced an (a) expansion or (b) contraction in retail revenue since the start of the covid-19 outbreak; and by what criteria are (i) supermarkets eligible and (ii) food and drink wholesalers not eligible for business rates relief.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief worth almost £10billion to businesses occupying properties used for retail, hospitality and leisure that are accessible to visiting members of the public, given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
Recent ONS figures show that, in the three months to May 2020, the volume of retail sales decreased by a record 12.8%, with declines across all stores except food and non-store retailing. The proportion spent online rose to the highest proportion on record in May 2020 at 33.4%.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as food and drink wholesalers, has also been made available.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons business rates relief (a) has been granted to businesses in the hospitality sector and (b) has not been granted to food and drink wholesalers; what assessment has been made of the effect of this decision on the food and drink supplies of (i) hospitals and (ii) schools; and if he will discuss with Ministerial colleagues the applications of business rates relief to the food and drink wholesale sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief worth almost £10billion to businesses occupying properties used for retail, hospitality and leisure that are accessible to visiting members of the public, given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
Recent ONS figures show that, in the three months to May 2020, the volume of retail sales decreased by a record 12.8%, with declines across all stores except food and non-store retailing. The proportion spent online rose to the highest proportion on record in May 2020 at 33.4%.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as food and drink wholesalers, has also been made available.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason his Department has not allocated financial support to food and drink wholesalers; whether food and drink wholesalers are classified as part of the same supply chain as the supermarkets which they supply; and if he will make it his policy to extend (a) business rates relief and (b) the Hospitality, Retail and Leisure Grant, to the food and drink wholesale sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief and business grants to businesses occupying properties used for retail, hospitality and leisure given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for Local Authorities (LAs) in England on eligible properties for the business rates relief. It is for LAs to determine eligibility for reliefs, having regard to guidance issued by the Government.
LAs can choose to make discretionary grants to businesses in wider supply chains, like the wholesale food and drink sector, if the LA considers there is a particular local economic need.
Businesses that are not eligible for business rates relief or business grants can still benefit from the wider business and employment support package the Government has made available.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress his Department has made on resolving the dispute between HMRC and the Roadchef Employee Benefits Trust; whether that case can be used as a precedent for other claims; and if he will make it his policy to include a relevant clause in legislative proposals brought forward by his Department to remove the obstacle to payments being made from the Trust to its beneficiaries.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs, who have indicated that they are in dialogue with the taxpayer. It would not be appropriate for Treasury ministers to become involved in the administration of the tax system in specific cases.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that the earnings limit set for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme is consistent with Government financial support for employees who earn more than £50,000 per annum; and if he will make it his policy to introduce a capped grant of up to £2,500 per month to for self-employed people during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The different designs of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) reflect their different objectives. The CJRS is designed to prevent employers making staff redundant, whereas the SEISS is designed to support the incomes of those self-employed individuals whose businesses are adversely affected by COVID-19.
Individuals can at present claim a taxable grant under the SEISS worth 80 per cent of their average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits, and capped at £7,500 in total.
The extension of the SEISS announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 29 May 2020 means that eligible individuals whose businesses are adversely affected by COVID-19 will be able to claim a second and final grant when the scheme reopens for applications in August. This will be a taxable grant worth 70 per cent of their average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total.
The SEISS, including the £50,000 threshold for average trading profits, is targeted at those who most need it, and who are most reliant on their self-employment income. The self-employed are very diverse and have a wide mix of turnover and profits, with monthly and annual variations even in normal times, and in some cases with substantial alternative forms of income too: for example, those who had more than £50,000 from trading profits in 2017-18 had an average total income of more than £200,000. Some 95 per cent of those with more than half their income from self-employment in 2018-19 could be eligible for this scheme.
Those with average trading profits above £50,000 may still be eligible for other elements of the unprecedented financial support package made available by the Government. These measures include Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, increased levels of Universal Credit, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May to Question 43822 on endowment mortgage policies, if he will take steps to work closely with the financial sector to ensure that the providers of such policies offer an option to people dependent upon them to discharge mortgages, to extend the policies' maturation dates until after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by John Glen
The current size of the endowment linked mortgage market is small, with no new endowment linked mortgage products and few coming to maturity.
Banks and buildings societies stand ready to support all of their customers affected by Covid-19, including those with an endowment mortgage shortfall.
Firms will consider customer circumstances with endowment mortgages on a case-by-case basis and UK Finance have instructed lenders to treat all customers sympathetically at this time. Customers are also protected under the FCA’s overarching Treating Customers Fairly principle.
Given this, we believe that existing lender forbearance and regulatory guidance is sufficient in supporting customers with endowment mortgages through Covid-19.