Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to increase eligibility for (a) people and (b) business not eligible for the Government's financial support measures during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has provided a comprehensive economic response that is one of the most generous of its kind in the world, taking unprecedented steps to support families, businesses and the most vulnerable. As well as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), this package includes Government-backed loans and grants to businesses, tax deferrals, rental support and mortgage and consumer credit holidays.
This package also includes extra funding for the welfare safety net to help those through this outbreak who are unable to access other forms of support. The temporary welfare measures include increases to Universal Credit and Local Housing Allowance, a relaxation of the Universal Credit minimum income floor, and making Statutory Sick Pay easier to access.
Now, the Government’s new Plan for Jobs will support, protect and create jobs. This plan will make available up to £30 billion to help kickstart the nation’s economic recovery ahead of a fuller package of medium-term recovery measures in the forthcoming Autumn Budget and Spending Review.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's news story entitled, Chancellor sets out extra £750 million coronavirus funding for frontline charities, published on 8 April 2020, what Barnett consequentials will accrue to the Scottish Government in relation to financial support for hospices in Scotland.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK government is applying the Barnett formula in the normal way to the additional funding for charities announced by the Chancellor, with the Scottish Government receiving at least £55 million in Barnett consequentials in relation to the £750 million package.
Funding for charities is a devolved matter and it is for the Scottish Government to decide how to support charities in Scotland.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of how often the annual tapered allowance results in a person being taxed more than 100 per cent of the pensions relief they would have received if they had not reached the allowance limit.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Pensions tax relief is one of the most expensive reliefs in the personal tax system. In 2016/17 income tax and employer National Insurance Contributions relief cost over £50 billion, with around two-thirds going to higher and additional rate taxpayers.
The tapered annual allowance is therefore focussed on the highest-earning savers, to ensure that the benefit they receive is not disproportionate to that of other pension savers. Less than one per cent of pension savers will have to reduce their saving or face an annual allowance charge as a result of the tapered annual allowance.
For those who incur annual allowance tax charges, the charge recoups the excess tax relief on the benefits that they have accrued in that year above their annual allowance. The charge is levied at an individual’s marginal rate. For example, an individual with a salary above £150,000 would be taxed at 45% on pension accrual above their annual allowance.
It is not possible to estimate the precise effects of the tapered annual allowance on an individual’s total remuneration without knowing their specific circumstances.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of how often the annual tapered allowance results in a person being taxed more than 100 per cent of the earnings gained from additional sessions or responsibilities.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Pensions tax relief is one of the most expensive reliefs in the personal tax system. In 2016/17 income tax and employer National Insurance Contributions relief cost over £50 billion, with around two-thirds going to higher and additional rate taxpayers.
The tapered annual allowance is therefore focussed on the highest-earning savers, to ensure that the benefit they receive is not disproportionate to that of other pension savers. Less than one per cent of pension savers will have to reduce their saving or face an annual allowance charge as a result of the tapered annual allowance.
For those who incur annual allowance tax charges, the charge recoups the excess tax relief on the benefits that they have accrued in that year above their annual allowance. The charge is levied at an individual’s marginal rate. For example, an individual with a salary above £150,000 would be taxed at 45% on pension accrual above their annual allowance.
It is not possible to estimate the precise effects of the tapered annual allowance on an individual’s total remuneration without knowing their specific circumstances.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what systems are in place to distinguish people's National Insurance details when more than one person share the same name and date of birth.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC issue a National Insurance number to an individual shortly before they reach their sixteenth birthday. The process ensures that no two individuals can be issued with the same number, even where they share the same name and date of birth. Where an individual has not been allocated a National Insurance number by HMRC, they can apply to DWP who will undertake a face to face interview to establish their identity and check entitlement to a number. This again ensures a National Insurance number cannot be issued to more than one person.
In each case, a National Insurance number will be unique to each individual and remain the same for life. Both HMRC and DWP take seriously any attempts to use the National Insurance number fraudulently and have a range of measures in place to counter abuse wherever it occurs.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what protection is in place to prevent fraudulent use of National Insurance numbers when individuals share the same name and date of birth.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC issue a National Insurance number to an individual shortly before they reach their sixteenth birthday. The process ensures that no two individuals can be issued with the same number, even where they share the same name and date of birth. Where an individual has not been allocated a National Insurance number by HMRC, they can apply to DWP who will undertake a face to face interview to establish their identity and check entitlement to a number. This again ensures a National Insurance number cannot be issued to more than one person.
In each case, a National Insurance number will be unique to each individual and remain the same for life. Both HMRC and DWP take seriously any attempts to use the National Insurance number fraudulently and have a range of measures in place to counter abuse wherever it occurs.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints were received by HMRC from UK Businesses in relation to PDA1 (a) applications and (b) renewals in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016, (iii) 2017 and (iv) 2018.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC does not hold this information and to obtain it would be at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether people paid monthly for whom April was treated as month one prior to the introduction of Real Time Information (RTI), but for whom May would then be treated as month one after the introduction of RTI were overtaxed as a result of missing out on one month of tax-free pay at the point at which RTI was introduced.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The introduction of RTI did not result in changes to the tax calendar. The first payment made on or after the 6th April is classed as month 1 and this did not change post RTI. No individuals should have been overtaxed as a result of the implementation.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what legislative changes were made to enable employers to report real-time information on taxation to HMRC.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 No. 822 made the amendments necessary to the Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/2682) to enable Pay As You Earn (PAYE) reporting in real time.
The collection of National Insurance contributions (NICs), the income tax construction industry scheme (CIS) and student loan repayments also rely on the PAYE system. Consequently amendments were also made to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/1004), the Income Tax (Construction Industry Scheme) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2045) and the Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/470) to reflect the introduction of reporting in real time.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government made an assessment of the potential merits of a conversion plan when introducing provisions on real-time information reporting to HMRC in order to mitigate the additional tax payable during the second 12-month period of the scheme as a result of moving the start of the tax year in 2013-14 from 1 April to 6 April.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
There were no changes made to the start of the tax year for Pay As You Earn (PAYE) as a result of the introduction of Real Time Information (RTI) which remained 6 April, or to the deadlines for paying the tax, National Insurance contributions and any other deductions due.
As RTI was not expected to affect the annual levels of tax receipts, no conversion plan for additional tax payable was considered for 2013-14.