Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2017 to Question 4658, whether the Government carried out any research or assessment before deciding to levy business rates on cash machines; and for what reasons and by whom that decision was taken to levy those rates.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for assessing Rateable Values for business rates. Since Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) came into existence, the VOA has separately assessed sites for them wherever a) it is aware of them and b) they meet the test of being in rateable occupation under the relevant legislation and case law.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the proportion of free-to-use cash machines which would (a) be removed or (b) start charging customers if business rates are levied on cash machines.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Government has not made an estimate of the number of cash machines that would be removed or start charging customers if business rates were levied on cash machines.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the Government will reduce high costs of motor insurance for people living in certain postcodes.
Answered by Steve Barclay
An insurer will make a decision about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the risks posed by an individual. This is usually informed by the insurer’s claims experience and other industry-wide statistics, including post code data.
The Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers as this could damage competition in the market. The respective capabilities of insurers to assess risk is a key element on which they compete. This competition is important and should lead to better products and lower prices for consumers.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government had discussions with Royal Bank of Scotland on the recent giving of bonuses to nine executives of that bank.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The Government’s stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is managed at arm’s length by UK Financial Investments (UKFI).
UKFI is responsible for engaging with RBS to ensure that remuneration policies are designed to pay the minimum necessary to attract and retain the staff needed to advance the Government’s objective of managing the shareholding in a way that represents value for money for the taxpayer.
As part of this process, UKFI advises ministers on RBS’s remuneration plans.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his proposals on Making Tax Digital, published in December 2015, for what reasons the threshold of an income of £10,000 was agreed; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that threshold on self-employed entertainment sector workers.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Making Tax Digital for Businesses (MTDfB) will modernise the tax system and make it easier for businesses to get their tax right. A deferral of one year for unincorporated businesses below the VAT threshold was announced at Spring Budget 2017.
The £10,000 threshold was set after considering evidence both about the size of the business population and about the composition of the tax gap.
The Government published an updated impact assessment on 8 March alongside Spring Budget 2017. This estimated the impacts averaged across the entire unincorporated business population, using established models, consultation feedback, stakeholder engagement and internal insight.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that the renegotiation of the UK-Malawi tax treaty supports development and helps tackle poverty in that country.
Answered by David Gauke
The UK regularly reviews its treaty network and actively engages with developing countries. Discussions with Malawi over a new tax treaty began some years ago, and substantive agreement has been reached at official level. It is hoped that the treaty will be signed shortly. Although the UK’s starting point in negotiations is based closely on the OECD model double taxation convention, the Government recognises that developing countries will sometimes have different preferences, and treaties the UK has recently signed demonstrate that we are willing to accommodate at least some of those preferences as part of a balanced agreement. But the nature of the negotiating process is that it remains confidential to the two sides until the treaty is signed.
By governing the taxation of cross-border income flows in a predictable manner and eliminating double taxation and excessive taxation, tax treaties promote international trade and investment, leading to sustainable tax revenues, which are vital in financing for development.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to improve the transparency of the negotiation process for UK tax treaties.
Answered by David Gauke
The UK regularly reviews its treaty network and actively engages with developing countries. Discussions with Malawi over a new tax treaty began some years ago, and substantive agreement has been reached at official level. It is hoped that the treaty will be signed shortly. Although the UK’s starting point in negotiations is based closely on the OECD model double taxation convention, the Government recognises that developing countries will sometimes have different preferences, and treaties the UK has recently signed demonstrate that we are willing to accommodate at least some of those preferences as part of a balanced agreement. But the nature of the negotiating process is that it remains confidential to the two sides until the treaty is signed.
By governing the taxation of cross-border income flows in a predictable manner and eliminating double taxation and excessive taxation, tax treaties promote international trade and investment, leading to sustainable tax revenues, which are vital in financing for development.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the UK's tax treaties with developing countries on tackling poverty in those countries.
Answered by David Gauke
The UK regularly reviews its treaty network and actively engages with developing countries. Discussions with Malawi over a new tax treaty began some years ago, and substantive agreement has been reached at official level. It is hoped that the treaty will be signed shortly. Although the UK’s starting point in negotiations is based closely on the OECD model double taxation convention, the Government recognises that developing countries will sometimes have different preferences, and treaties the UK has recently signed demonstrate that we are willing to accommodate at least some of those preferences as part of a balanced agreement. But the nature of the negotiating process is that it remains confidential to the two sides until the treaty is signed.
By governing the taxation of cross-border income flows in a predictable manner and eliminating double taxation and excessive taxation, tax treaties promote international trade and investment, leading to sustainable tax revenues, which are vital in financing for development.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on corporate taxation of the OECD's report, Countering harmful tax practices more effectively, taking into account transparency and substance, published in September 2014.
Answered by David Gauke
The OECD report published in September 2014 formed the basis of international discussions in the OECD Forum on Harmful Tax Practices, which lead to the publishing of the 2015 FHTP Report, chapter 4 of which creates a new international framework governing preferential intellectual property (“IP”) regimes, such as the UK Patent Box.
This international framework makes the lower tax rates of preferential IP regimes dependent on, and proportional to, the research and development expenditure incurred by the claimant taxpayer in developing their IP. The UK Patent Box will be amended in line with this international framework, with the new rules coming into force on 1 July 2016.
The Report also made provision for greater information exchange between tax authorities of rulings issued to individual businesses. HM Revenue and Customs is currently implementing these rules and has already begun to exchange information with other tax authorities.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of UK policies on tax and overseas territories on the effectiveness of Government steps to tackle global poverty.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government is committed to tackling global poverty and to a fair and transparent global tax system.
Following the lead taken by the UK in its G8 Presidency, each of the UK’s Overseas Territories with a recognised financial centre has committed to automatic exchange of information with over 90 jurisdictions worldwide. The Territories have also joined the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters providing a legal gateway for exchange of information with a large number of countries, including developing countries which have joined the Convention.
The Government wants all countries, including developing countries, to be able to take advantage of exchange of information, both on request and automatically. The Department for International Development (DFID) funds the Global Forum and World Bank to support developing countries in implementing exchange of information systems, and last year the Government announced a partnership with the Ghana revenue authority to pilot the new standard on automatic exchange of information.
The UK has also been at the forefront of recent international efforts to align the taxation of profits with economic activity through the G20-OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. This project, which involved tax officials from over 120 countries, represents the most comprehensive attempt to reform the international tax rules since they were first drafted in the 1920s. All countries will be able to benefit from these changes to the international tax system, but some will require additional support if they are to do so. International organisations are therefore producing practical toolkits to help developing countries implement BEPS standards and DFID is funding international organisations to assist developing countries in obtaining technical assistance on issues such as transfer pricing.