Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the finding of the Independent Loan Charge Review that loans made pre-December 2010 were made before the law was clear, for what reason HMRC has pursued tax from people with pre-2010 open years.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Independent Loan Charge Review set out that the loan charge should only apply to loans made on, or after, 9 December 2010. However, it also made clear that, for years before this, where there is an enquiry or assessment, HMRC still had the ability to pursue the tax due under the existing rules.
Where there are open enquiries for periods before 9 December 2010, HMRC will resolve these in line with the HMRC Litigation and Settlement Strategy. Closing open enquiries for less than the amount of tax due under the law is not within this Strategy, nor would it be fair to those who have already settled with HMRC on the basis of their full liability, or fair to taxpayers more generally.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how his Department determines who the employer is between the promoter and end user client engaged in the loan charge scheme in circumstances where HMRC and Customs Digital Technology Services are also the engagers of a contractor using a loan scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Where a contractor is engaged, the identity of the employer will depend on the facts of the engagement and the tax rules that apply to that engagement. For example, if a contractor is employed by an employment agency or umbrella company, who then supply the contractor to the client organisation, that agency or umbrella company will be the employer.
Conversely, where the Agency legislation applies to an engagement, the first agency in the labour supply chain is usually deemed to be the employer for tax purposes. However, if the contractor is engaged under the current off-payroll working legislation, the person who pays the contractor’s intermediary will be the deemed employer for tax purposes. From 6 April 2021, the off-payroll working rules are changing so that the deemed employer will be the party in the labour supply chain who meets the relevant conditions.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a zero-rating of VAT on remedial fire safety works to buildings.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Under qualifying circumstances, the supply of fire safety equipment is already eligible for VAT relief when provided alongside the construction and renovation of residential or charitable buildings.
VAT plays an important part in funding public services such as the NHS and education. Extending the zero-rate could carry a significant cost to the Exchequer and must be viewed in the context of about £50 billion of requests for relief from VAT since the EU referendum. The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) Mainstay and (b) other property management providers have received funding through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government is not able to provide information on organisations that have used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
Owing to HMRC’s duty of confidentiality, HMRC cannot publish identifying information that relates to one of their functions.
The CJRS is one of HMRC’s functions and publishing a list of organisations would provide identifying information.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the effect on the level of employment of the closure of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The CJRS has helped 1.2 million employers across the UK furlough 9.6 million jobs, protecting people’s livelihoods. Many of these employments will have already been resumed. Across the whole of the UK and all ages, the number of employments furloughed has decreased from a peak of 8.9 million on 8 May to about 4.8 million on 31 July. The CJRS must be temporary and the Government must ensure people can get back to work safely and get the UK economy up and running again.
Building on the action taken in the face of the immediate threat posed by the virus, the second phase of the Government’s response began with the targeted Plan for Jobs. The Plan places emphasis on job creation through the Kickstart scheme, a £2 billion fund to create hundreds of thousands of new, high-quality 6-month subsidised jobs for young people; as well as job protection through the Job Retention Bonus, which specifically encourages firms to keep on workers they previously furloughed. It also supports jobseekers with direct help to find work and to gain the skills they need to gain employment.
The Government is adapting its response to the changing context, evolving as restrictions have changed. On 24 September the Government introduced a Winter Economy Plan including the new Job Support Scheme, which targets support on those businesses that need it most; focusing on those that are being affected by coronavirus and can support their employees doing some work, but that need more time for demand to recover.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on introducing a tax-break-based hospitality voucher scheme to support businesses in the UK.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government understands the acute impact the pandemic is having on the hospitality sector. This sector is a vital source of employment across the country, and that is why – in addition to the CJRS, tax deferrals and loans – we have prioritised support for hospitality businesses and introduced several targeted measures to protect jobs. This includes:
• A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England
• The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund
• The Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, which subsidised 100 million meals through August
• A temporary reduction in the VAT rate from 20% to 5% on most tourism and hospitality-related activities.
The Government is continuing to collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic, including on specific sectors, and to work with businesses and representative groups to inform our efforts to support the recovery as we head into the Autumn.
The Chancellor and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy meet regularly to discuss support for businesses and the economy as a whole.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a tax-break-based hospitality voucher scheme to support businesses in the UK.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government understands the acute impact the pandemic is having on the hospitality sector. This sector is a vital source of employment across the country, and that is why – in addition to the CJRS, tax deferrals and loans – we have prioritised support for hospitality businesses and introduced several targeted measures to protect jobs. This includes:
• A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England
• The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund
• The Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, which subsidised 100 million meals through August
• A temporary reduction in the VAT rate from 20% to 5% on most tourism and hospitality-related activities.
The Government is continuing to collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic, including on specific sectors, and to work with businesses and representative groups to inform our efforts to support the recovery as we head into the Autumn.
The Chancellor and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy meet regularly to discuss support for businesses and the economy as a whole.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that reforms to off-payroll working rules do not result in contractors being subject to role-based blanket IR35 assessments that incorrectly classify them as operating inside IR35.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Organisations must take reasonable care when making status determinations for the off-payroll working rules. The Government is clear that determinations must be made on a case-by-case basis, although it is acceptable to make a determination for a group of workers where the terms and conditions of contracts and working practices are the same.
HMRC’s dedicated education and support team will be delivering an enhanced programme of targeted support ahead of April 2021. This will include working with client organisations to make sure they are able to correctly determine their contractors’ status for tax.
The Government has also already ensured that from April 2021 client organisations are required to introduce a client-led status disagreement process where contractors can raise their concerns with their client organisation if they disagree on how they have been categorised.
HMRC will also commission independent research into the impacts of the reform six months after it has taken effect, which will look at how status decisions are being made. This research will be presented to Parliament.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions for non-payment of the National Minimum Wage there have been (a) in total since 2010 and (b) in each year since 2010.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC enforce the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) in line with the law and policy set out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
All businesses, irrespective of size or business sector, are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff. HMRC will not hesitate to take action to ensure that workers receive the pay to which they are legally entitled.
A majority of NMW cases relate to civil (non-criminal) offences, which attract penalties of up to 200% of the identified wage arrears and public naming.
Alongside civil sanctions, HMRC have a clear approach for how they consider prosecutions in appropriate cases involving potential criminal breaches in the most serious cases.
Where potential criminality has occurred, HMRC refer these cases to the Crown Prosecution Service who decide whether or not to prosecute.
Since 2010-11 HMRC have completed nearly 25,000 NMW investigations, identifying over £100 million in national minimum wage arrears for over 950,000 workers. During this period, HMRC investigations have also led to the successful prosecution of 8 employers for NMW related offences. A yearly breakdown of NMW prosecutions is included in the table below.
Year | Number of prosecutions |
2010/11 | 1 |
2011/12 | 0 |
2012/13 | 1 |
2013/14 | 0 |
2014/15 | 0 |
2015/16 | 0 |
2016/17 | 4 |
2017/18 | 1 |
2018/19 | 0 |
2019/20 | 1 |
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional steps his Department is taking to secure prosecutions for non-payment of the National Minimum Wage.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC enforce the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) in line with the law and policy set out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
All businesses, irrespective of size or business sector, are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff. HMRC will not hesitate to take action to ensure that workers receive the pay to which they are legally entitled.
A majority of NMW cases relate to civil (non-criminal) offences, which attract penalties of up to 200% of the identified wage arrears and public naming.
Alongside civil sanctions, HMRC have a clear approach for how they consider prosecutions in appropriate cases involving potential criminal breaches in the most serious cases.
Where potential criminality has occurred, HMRC refer these cases to the Crown Prosecution Service who decide whether or not to prosecute.
Since 2010-11 HMRC have completed nearly 25,000 NMW investigations, identifying over £100 million in national minimum wage arrears for over 950,000 workers. During this period, HMRC investigations have also led to the successful prosecution of 8 employers for NMW related offences. A yearly breakdown of NMW prosecutions is included in the table below.
Year | Number of prosecutions |
2010/11 | 1 |
2011/12 | 0 |
2012/13 | 1 |
2013/14 | 0 |
2014/15 | 0 |
2015/16 | 0 |
2016/17 | 4 |
2017/18 | 1 |
2018/19 | 0 |
2019/20 | 1 |