Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the objectives of the Entrepreneur Relief scheme are; and what assessment his Department has made as to whether those objectives are being met.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The objective of Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER) is to promote enterprise by offering a reduced rate of tax to individuals who have contributed to the creation and growth of a business.
The Government continues to monitor the effectiveness of ER. HMRC’s most recent evaluation was published in December 2017, and is available here. The Government has no current plans to abolish ER, but keeps all taxes and reliefs under review.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the Association of Accounting Technicians' proposal for the Government to abolish Entrepreneurs Relief and invest the £3 billion saving in initiatives or reliefs that encourage business start-ups or scale-up activity.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The objective of Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER) is to promote enterprise by offering a reduced rate of tax to individuals who have contributed to the creation and growth of a business.
The Government continues to monitor the effectiveness of ER. HMRC’s most recent evaluation was published in December 2017, and is available here. The Government has no current plans to abolish ER, but keeps all taxes and reliefs under review.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the (a) effect and (b) cost effectiveness of the Entrepreneur Relief scheme on incentivising investment in business.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The objective of Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER) is to promote enterprise by offering a reduced rate of tax to individuals who have contributed to the creation and growth of a business.
The Government continues to monitor the effectiveness of ER. HMRC’s most recent evaluation was published in December 2017, and is available here. The Government has no current plans to abolish ER, but keeps all taxes and reliefs under review.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 September 2019 to Question 290754, whether the Government met, held discussions or corresponded with the management of the Royal Bank of Scotland to discuss Thomas Cook UK between 14 September 2019 and the collapse of that company.
Answered by John Glen
The government has no role in the operational decision making of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The government manages its shareholding in RBS at arm’s length and on a commercial basis through UK Government Investments Ltd (UKGI). UKGI's role is to manage the investment and not the bank itself. Operational decisions, including relating to commercial lending, are made by RBS.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which provider supplies energy to his Department; how much CO2 was emitted through his Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria his Department uses to selecting an energy supplier includes how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Treasury’s Electricity supplier is EDF and the Gas supplier is Corona. EDF and Corona Energy are the sole suppliers on the Crown Commercial Services Framework for Electricity and Gas respectively. Crown Commercial Services select the energy suppliers for their framework.
CO2 emissions for the period April 2018 to March 2019 were 825 tonnes. Since February 2019, HM Treasury’s electricity supply is backed by certifiable renewable technologies which have a zero emissions rating.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions (a) he, (b) his Ministers and (c) his officials have had with the management of the Royal Bank of Scotland on Thomas Cook UK between 14 September 2019 and the collapse of that company.
Answered by John Glen
The government manages its shareholding in RBS at arm’s length on a commercial basis through UK Government Investments Ltd (UKGI). UKGI's role is to manage the investment, not the bank itself. RBS retains its own independent board and management team for strategic and operational decision-making, including in relation to commercial lending, and the government has no role in such decision-making.
Asked by: Nicholas Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people with closed tax years are affected by the 2019 Loan Charge.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The information you have requested is not available. HMRC are working through the settlement process with those Disguised Remuneration users who came forward to settle their tax affairs before 5 April 2019.
Scheme users who chose not to repay the outstanding loan, or agree a settlement with HMRC, by 5 April 2019, are now liable for the loan charge and should report it as part of their 2018-19 tax liability.
To date, no promoters of disguised remuneration (DR) schemes have been convicted of criminal offences related to DR schemes as such. There are no criminal offences specific to the promotion of mass marketed tax avoidance schemes but HMRC may conduct a criminal investigation into an individual’s actions when, for example, reliance is placed on a false or altered document, or if the material facts are misrepresented. In May, six individuals were arrested on suspicion of promoting fraudulent loan charge arrangements.
Since the formation of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service on 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance schemes, resulting in over 100 years in custodial sentences. A significant number of avoidance scheme promoters are currently under criminal investigation by HMRC.