Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of levels of performance in processing and paying VAT refunds.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
HMRC continually monitors its performance for processing and making VAT repayment returns (refunds). It processes around 2 million repayment returns annually. Over 90% of all repayments are authorised within 10 working days of receipt.
As part of its responsibilities for the care and management of the VAT system, HMRC is required to make reasonable enquiries prior to making a repayment to prevent VAT fraud, which is damaging to the UK economy. It gives high priority to checking repayment returns as it is aware of the importance of cash-flow to smaller businesses.
In circumstances where HMRC takes over 30 days to process a repayment return, a Repayment Supplement is paid. Repayment Supplement is due on less than 1% of repayments received.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the new online service for VAT refunds on the time it takes to process and pay VAT refunds.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Making Tax Digital should not have an impact on the VAT refunds process nor on paying VAT refunds.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been affected by the introduction of the high income child benefit charge.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The High Income Child Benefit Charge came into force in January 2013 to help reduce the deficit and target support at those who need it most.
It is a tax charge that applies to anyone with an adjusted net income over £50,000 who claims Child Benefit or whose partner claims it. The charge is tapered, increasing gradually for taxpayers with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000.
For families where an individual has income over £60,000, the Child Benefit recipient can choose to either keep receiving Child Benefit payments and the highest earner pays the charge, or opt out of Child Benefit payments and not have to pay the charge.
Around 1.1 million families are in scope of the charge, and over 0.5 million have opted out of receiving Child Benefit payments.
The Government has no plans to abolish the High Income Child Benefit Charge, but keeps all policies under review.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to abolish the high income child benefit tax charge.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The High Income Child Benefit Charge came into force in January 2013 to help reduce the deficit and target support at those who need it most.
It is a tax charge that applies to anyone with an adjusted net income over £50,000 who claims Child Benefit or whose partner claims it. The charge is tapered, increasing gradually for taxpayers with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000.
For families where an individual has income over £60,000, the Child Benefit recipient can choose to either keep receiving Child Benefit payments and the highest earner pays the charge, or opt out of Child Benefit payments and not have to pay the charge.
Around 1.1 million families are in scope of the charge, and over 0.5 million have opted out of receiving Child Benefit payments.
The Government has no plans to abolish the High Income Child Benefit Charge, but keeps all policies under review.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department provides financial assistance for HMRC to help local businesses run (a) the small self-administered scheme and (b) other schemes.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
This government has always provided HMRC with the resources it needs to carry out its responsibilities. At the 2015 Spending Review, the government invested £1.3 billion to transform HMRC to make it quicker and easier for customers to deal with HMRC.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department provides financial assistance for HMRC to help local businesses run (a) the small self-administered scheme and (b) other schemes.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
This government has always provided HMRC with the resources it needs to carry out its responsibilities. At the 2015 Spending Review, the government invested £1.3 billion to transform HMRC to make it quicker and easier for customers to deal with HMRC.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential increase in demand on the court system as a result of the deadline for making PPI claims via the Financial Ombudsman; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s decision to set a deadline for mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) was announced in August 2017, and gives consumers two years to make a claim. The government is confident in the FCA’s approach to handling mis-sold PPI and the deadline was set by the FCA in their role as an independent regulator. As this was an FCA decision and not legislation, the Chancellor has not made an assessment on the impacts on the court system resulting from the deadline.
Asked by: Laura Smith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the estimated £70 billion in unpaid compensation for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance, if he will review the deadline for making a compensation claim.
Answered by John Glen
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s decision to set a deadline for mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) was announced in August 2017, and gives consumers two years to make a claim. The government is confident in the FCA’s approach to handling mis-sold PPI and the deadline was set by the FCA in their role as an independent regulator. For this reason, the Chancellor is unable to review the deadline.
The deadline was set to prompt consumers to complain or check whether they had PPI. It is intended to help consumers get redress sooner, improve the efficiency of PPI complaints handling, and bring the PPI issue to an orderly conclusion to rebuild trust in the retail banking sector.
The FCA will write to Laura Smith MP to set out their position in more detail.