Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress his Department has made in its inquiry into the Panama Papers.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Since the last update to Parliament in November 2016, HMRC has tripled the number of criminal and civil investigations linked to the Panama papers.
To date, the work of the Panama Papers Taskforce has led to civil and criminal investigations into 66 individuals for suspected tax evasion, including high net worth individuals. As part of this HMRC has made four arrests; and carried out six interviews under caution.
Taskforce partners have made three arrests in relation to an organised crime group suspected of a £125m conspiracy to defraud pension investors, tax evasion and associated money laundering. They have also identified leads relevant to a major insider trading operation, in relation to which a number of individuals have been arrested and are on bail pending further activity.
UK law enforcement continues to interrogate and exploit Panama Papers related data, identifying previously unknown individuals, companies and properties, making links between them and providing intelligence and investigative opportunities.
The systems used to launder money and evade tax through offshore structures are complex and highly sophisticated. The Joint Financial Analysis Centre and HMRC’s expert analysts are using leading-edge technology to unpick these structures and trace them back to individuals. This work is painstaking and forensic and there are no easy shortcuts.
HMRC is not a prosecuting authority. Its focus is on building the strongest possible cases in order to secure convictions, and it expects to refer cases to the prosecuting authorities from autumn 2017 onwards.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what dates he has met the EU PANA Committee; what was the duration of each of those meetings; and what topics were discussed at each.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The EU PANA Committee’s mission to the UK took place on 9 and 10 February 2017 and representatives from the UK government were invited to update the Committee on the UK’s progress in tackling money laundering, tax evasion and tax avoidance. As the proceedings were primarily concerned with the UK’s operational response, witnesses from the government’s Panama Papers Taskforce, including HMRC, the Financial Conduct Authority and the National Crime Agency, gave evidence during the allotted 90-minute evidence session. HM Treasury Ministers were not present.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what organisations are responsible for monitoring and enforcing anti-money laundering laws.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
There are 25 Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervisors in the UK. These include the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), HM Revenue and Customs, the Gambling Commission and the 22 accountancy and legal professional bodies listed below:
These supervisors monitor and enforce compliance with AML legislation. This complements the work of law enforcement agencies, including the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office and local police forces.
The government has reviewed the supervisory regime and is implementing reforms to strengthen it. These include creating a new team – the Office for Professional Body AML Supervision (OPBAS) – within the FCA to help, and ensure, professional bodies provide consistently high standards of supervision. OPBAS will also work across the regime, to facilitate high standards amongst statutory supervisors and strengthen supervisors’ collaboration with law enforcement.
Law enforcement agencies, the FCA, HM Revenue and Customs and the Gambling Commission are subject to the Freedom of Information Act whilst the 22 professional bodies named above are not. The government supports greater transparency to help build public confidence in our regime, and the 2017 Money Laundering Regulations require that all AML supervisors, including the 22 professional bodies, provide information to inform the Treasury’s Annual Supervision Report.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which organisations responsible for monitoring and enforcing anti-money laundering laws are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
There are 25 Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervisors in the UK. These include the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), HM Revenue and Customs, the Gambling Commission and the 22 accountancy and legal professional bodies listed below:
These supervisors monitor and enforce compliance with AML legislation. This complements the work of law enforcement agencies, including the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office and local police forces.
The government has reviewed the supervisory regime and is implementing reforms to strengthen it. These include creating a new team – the Office for Professional Body AML Supervision (OPBAS) – within the FCA to help, and ensure, professional bodies provide consistently high standards of supervision. OPBAS will also work across the regime, to facilitate high standards amongst statutory supervisors and strengthen supervisors’ collaboration with law enforcement.
Law enforcement agencies, the FCA, HM Revenue and Customs and the Gambling Commission are subject to the Freedom of Information Act whilst the 22 professional bodies named above are not. The government supports greater transparency to help build public confidence in our regime, and the 2017 Money Laundering Regulations require that all AML supervisors, including the 22 professional bodies, provide information to inform the Treasury’s Annual Supervision Report.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much VAT has been refunded to visitors to the UK in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold information on VAT to this level of detail. The Retail Export scheme is operated and administered by the participating retailers. Retailers do not separately identify retail exports on their VAT returns so HMRC does not hold any record of the actual VAT refunds made.
In a 2013 consultation document VAT: Retail Export Scheme, HMRC estimated that, in the UK, more than £300 million of VAT is refunded under the VAT Retail Export Scheme each year. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/209487/20130627_Consultation_document_1_0_complete.pdf (Paragraph 2.4)
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and to who the annual tax reliefs have been granted under the Patent-Box scheme.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The latest National Statistics on usage of the Patent Box were published on 14 September and can be found at:
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the cost of litigation in the case of Greene King Plc & Anor v HM Revenue and Customs; and how much of this has been recovered from Ernst & Young.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The cost of the litigation will not be known until the parties have agreed on the amounts to be paid under a costs order made by the Court of Appeal. If the parties cannot agree, the Court will assess the amounts. The costs order does not apply to Ernst & Young which was not a party to the litigation.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse has been of the case of Stagecoach Group PLC and Stagecoach Holdings Limited and the Commissioners for Her Majesty; and how much of that cost has been recovered.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
A number of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers across various compliance, legal, technical and policy teams can be involved in a case at any given time. HMRC officers may work on multiple cases, involving several different behaviours and risks at any one time. Therefore it is not possible to calculate the entire cost to HMRC of this particular investigation.
As this case was not in the costs regime, HMRC did not apply for its costs.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many successful prosecutions there have been for offences under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 in each year from 2010.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Since 2010, 9705 people in England and Wales have been successfully convicted for money laundering offences – most of these are under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 which provides for various money laundering offences, including where an individual knows or suspects they may be facilitating money laundering or seeks to conceal criminal property. The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 (MLRs) focus on ensuring regulated businesses put in place controls to guard against money laundering or terrorist finance. Supervisors are appointed by the Treasury to monitor compliance with these regulations and primarily use a range of supervisory tools to promote compliance, including warning notices, action plans, financial penalties or withdrawal of the right to practice. The vast majority of breaches of the MLRs are remedied or penalised using these supervisory tools. Since 2010, 10 people have been successfully convicted for breaching the Regulations.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of granting a VAT exemption to non-maintained special schools that support severely disabled children to bring those schools into line with the VAT exemption that applies to maintained special schools, special academies and special free schools.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Non-Maintained Special Schools provide education within the meaning of the Education Acts, which is exempt from VAT.