Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total value of shipments worth less than £135 to the UK was in each year since 2015, by country of origin.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Goods valued at £135 or less imported into the UK are not subject to customs duty and are predominantly imported through a simplified customs declaration.
HMRC can only provide the overall value of shipments containing goods under £135, as data on country of origin is not collected as part of the simplified customs declaration - in other words, the importer is not asked the specific country where the goods were manufactured or wholly obtained.
It was not mandatory to provide the total aggregate value as part of the simplified customs declaration until 2023. In 2024, £5.8bn worth of goods under £135 were declared through the Customs Declarations System (CDS).
On April 23rd the Government announced a review of the customs treatment of Low Value Imports valued below £135. We intend to engage a broad range of stakeholders over the Spring to further understand their views and gather evidence, including on the volume and nature of low value imports, to support our analysis.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information her Department holds on the proportion of imports from China that were worth less than £135 in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Goods valued at £135 or less imported into the UK are not subject to customs duty and are predominantly imported through a simplified customs declaration.
As part of this simplified declaration multiple goods can be bulk declared without providing the total number of consignments or country of origin - in other words, the importer is not asked the specific country where the goods were manufactured or wholly obtained. HMRC therefore does not routinely collect customs data on the proportion of imports from China that are worth less than £135.
On April 23rd the Government announced a review of the customs treatment of Low Value Imports valued below £135. We intend to engage a broad range of stakeholders over the Spring to further understand their views and gather evidence, including on the volume and nature of low value imports, to support our analysis.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of processing R&D tax relief (a) applications, (b) rejections and (c) appeals in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In October 2024, HMRC released operational data in the Approach to Research & Development Tax Reliefs 2023-2024 publication. This includes data from 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 on the number of R&D enquiries, the proportion of claims requiring adjustment and data on appeals. This publication represents the most comprehensive data on R&D compliance activity and is not available for previous years.
This publication also included customer service data on processing times and the average time to complete a compliance check. HMRC processed 92% of claims within 40 days in 2023-2024. Processing means paying the claim, making contact to request further information, or refusing the claim, and, for claims identified as high-risk, starting an appropriately targeted compliance check.
The table below provides final and illustrative estimates of the cost of error and fraud in the R&D tax reliefs since 2020-2021.
| Final estimates 2020-2021 (£m) | Final estimates 2021-2022 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2022-2023 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2023-2024 (£m) |
SME scheme | 1,038 | 1,203 | 1,003 | 475 |
RDEC scheme | 90 | 134 | 48 | 125 |
Overall | 1,127 | 1,337 | 1,050 | 601 |
The Mandatory Random Enquiry Programme approach introduced for small and medium sized enterprises represents good practice in the measurement of error and fraud, and involves a detailed inspection of a representative sample of claims filed. These estimates are published in HMRC Annual reports and Accounts and previous reports can be found at gov.uk at: HMRC’s Annual reports and Accounts.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many R&D tax relief claims have been rejected in each year since 2015; and how many of those have been successfully appealed.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In October 2024, HMRC released operational data in the Approach to Research & Development Tax Reliefs 2023-2024 publication. This includes data from 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 on the number of R&D enquiries, the proportion of claims requiring adjustment and data on appeals. This publication represents the most comprehensive data on R&D compliance activity and is not available for previous years.
This publication also included customer service data on processing times and the average time to complete a compliance check. HMRC processed 92% of claims within 40 days in 2023-2024. Processing means paying the claim, making contact to request further information, or refusing the claim, and, for claims identified as high-risk, starting an appropriately targeted compliance check.
The table below provides final and illustrative estimates of the cost of error and fraud in the R&D tax reliefs since 2020-2021.
| Final estimates 2020-2021 (£m) | Final estimates 2021-2022 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2022-2023 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2023-2024 (£m) |
SME scheme | 1,038 | 1,203 | 1,003 | 475 |
RDEC scheme | 90 | 134 | 48 | 125 |
Overall | 1,127 | 1,337 | 1,050 | 601 |
The Mandatory Random Enquiry Programme approach introduced for small and medium sized enterprises represents good practice in the measurement of error and fraud, and involves a detailed inspection of a representative sample of claims filed. These estimates are published in HMRC Annual reports and Accounts and previous reports can be found at gov.uk at: HMRC’s Annual reports and Accounts.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of (a) fraud and (b) error related to R&D tax relief in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In October 2024, HMRC released operational data in the Approach to Research & Development Tax Reliefs 2023-2024 publication. This includes data from 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 on the number of R&D enquiries, the proportion of claims requiring adjustment and data on appeals. This publication represents the most comprehensive data on R&D compliance activity and is not available for previous years.
This publication also included customer service data on processing times and the average time to complete a compliance check. HMRC processed 92% of claims within 40 days in 2023-2024. Processing means paying the claim, making contact to request further information, or refusing the claim, and, for claims identified as high-risk, starting an appropriately targeted compliance check.
The table below provides final and illustrative estimates of the cost of error and fraud in the R&D tax reliefs since 2020-2021.
| Final estimates 2020-2021 (£m) | Final estimates 2021-2022 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2022-2023 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2023-2024 (£m) |
SME scheme | 1,038 | 1,203 | 1,003 | 475 |
RDEC scheme | 90 | 134 | 48 | 125 |
Overall | 1,127 | 1,337 | 1,050 | 601 |
The Mandatory Random Enquiry Programme approach introduced for small and medium sized enterprises represents good practice in the measurement of error and fraud, and involves a detailed inspection of a representative sample of claims filed. These estimates are published in HMRC Annual reports and Accounts and previous reports can be found at gov.uk at: HMRC’s Annual reports and Accounts.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average delay in payment for businesses applying for R&D tax relief was in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In October 2024, HMRC released operational data in the Approach to Research & Development Tax Reliefs 2023-2024 publication. This includes data from 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 on the number of R&D enquiries, the proportion of claims requiring adjustment and data on appeals. This publication represents the most comprehensive data on R&D compliance activity and is not available for previous years.
This publication also included customer service data on processing times and the average time to complete a compliance check. HMRC processed 92% of claims within 40 days in 2023-2024. Processing means paying the claim, making contact to request further information, or refusing the claim, and, for claims identified as high-risk, starting an appropriately targeted compliance check.
The table below provides final and illustrative estimates of the cost of error and fraud in the R&D tax reliefs since 2020-2021.
| Final estimates 2020-2021 (£m) | Final estimates 2021-2022 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2022-2023 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2023-2024 (£m) |
SME scheme | 1,038 | 1,203 | 1,003 | 475 |
RDEC scheme | 90 | 134 | 48 | 125 |
Overall | 1,127 | 1,337 | 1,050 | 601 |
The Mandatory Random Enquiry Programme approach introduced for small and medium sized enterprises represents good practice in the measurement of error and fraud, and involves a detailed inspection of a representative sample of claims filed. These estimates are published in HMRC Annual reports and Accounts and previous reports can be found at gov.uk at: HMRC’s Annual reports and Accounts.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the average cost for businesses applying for R&D tax relief.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In October 2024, HMRC released operational data in the Approach to Research & Development Tax Reliefs 2023-2024 publication. This includes data from 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 on the number of R&D enquiries, the proportion of claims requiring adjustment and data on appeals. This publication represents the most comprehensive data on R&D compliance activity and is not available for previous years.
This publication also included customer service data on processing times and the average time to complete a compliance check. HMRC processed 92% of claims within 40 days in 2023-2024. Processing means paying the claim, making contact to request further information, or refusing the claim, and, for claims identified as high-risk, starting an appropriately targeted compliance check.
The table below provides final and illustrative estimates of the cost of error and fraud in the R&D tax reliefs since 2020-2021.
| Final estimates 2020-2021 (£m) | Final estimates 2021-2022 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2022-2023 (£m) | Illustrative estimate 2023-2024 (£m) |
SME scheme | 1,038 | 1,203 | 1,003 | 475 |
RDEC scheme | 90 | 134 | 48 | 125 |
Overall | 1,127 | 1,337 | 1,050 | 601 |
The Mandatory Random Enquiry Programme approach introduced for small and medium sized enterprises represents good practice in the measurement of error and fraud, and involves a detailed inspection of a representative sample of claims filed. These estimates are published in HMRC Annual reports and Accounts and previous reports can be found at gov.uk at: HMRC’s Annual reports and Accounts.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Bank of England's mandate to maintain fiscal stability.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Bank of England has operational independence from the government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for monetary policy and financial stability. Monetary policy, including quantitative easing, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England. The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic framework, and essential for the effective delivery of monetary policy, so the government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.
There are no plans to change the way reserves are remunerated at the Bank of England. The government continues to support the Bank to bring inflation in line with its target, including by managing the public finances responsibly.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of introducing a tiered reserve system on public finances.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Bank of England has operational independence from the government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for monetary policy and financial stability. Monetary policy, including quantitative easing, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England. The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic framework, and essential for the effective delivery of monetary policy, so the government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.
There are no plans to change the way reserves are remunerated at the Bank of England. The government continues to support the Bank to bring inflation in line with its target, including by managing the public finances responsibly.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had discussions with the Bank of England on a tiered reserve system.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Bank of England has operational independence from the government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for monetary policy and financial stability. Monetary policy, including quantitative easing, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England. The separation of fiscal and monetary policy is a key feature of the UK’s economic framework, and essential for the effective delivery of monetary policy, so the government does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.
There are no plans to change the way reserves are remunerated at the Bank of England. The government continues to support the Bank to bring inflation in line with its target, including by managing the public finances responsibly.