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 making country-by-country tax reports public of the survey results published by Christian Aid in September 2015 on the attitudes of FTSE100 companies to that issue.
Answered by David Gauke
The UK supports efforts to improve tax transparency. We initiated the international work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting to tax authorities during our G8 Presidency in 2013, calling on the OECD to develop a template for this as part of the BEPS project.
The UK was also the first to commit to implementing the OECD model with legislation in Finance Act 2015. We signed the OECD agreement to share the CbC reports with other tax authorities in January 2016 and issued our final CbC reporting regulations on 26 February 2016.
The Government believes that there is scope for greater transparency by pressing the case for public CbC reporting on a multilateral basis. As the Chancellor has said, this is something that the UK will seek to promote internationally.
The European Commission is preparing an impact assessment of public CbC reporting. We look forward to seeing the outcome of this analysis, which we expect to be published early next month, and will consider any proposal put forward by the Commission in due course.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential costs and benefits of making available to the public country-by-country taxation reports submitted to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by multinational companies; and whether HMRC plans to make those reports available to taxation authorities in other countries.
Answered by David Gauke
The UK supports efforts to improve tax transparency. We initiated the international work on country-by-country (CbC) reporting to tax authorities during our G8 Presidency in 2013, calling on the OECD to develop a template for this as part of the BEPS project. The UK was also the first to commit to implementing the OECD model with legislation in Finance Act 2015. We signed the OECD agreement to share the CbC reports with other tax authorities in January 2016 and issued our final CbC reporting regulations on 26 February 2016.
HMRC is committed to sharing the information reported by MNEs with other relevant tax jurisdictions to assist in assessing international tax avoidance risks.
The Government believes that there is scope for greater transparency by pressing the case for public CbC reporting on a multilateral basis. As the Chancellor has said, this is something that the UK will seek to promote internationally.
The European Commission is preparing an impact assessment of public CbC reporting. We look forward to seeing the outcome of this analysis, which we expect to be published early next month, and will consider any proposal put forward by the Commission in due course.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answers of 10 February 2016 to Question 26025 and 25 February 2016 to Question 27582, whether special advisors at his Department are included within the public sector one per cent pay rise limit.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
I refer the Honourable member to the answer given my Rt Hon. friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (26025)
Like any employer, HM Treasury does not discuss individual personnel matters, however details on the remuneration of Special Advisers appointed in the current Government and information on the remuneration of Special Advisers during the Coalition Government are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any of his Department's advisors received a pay rise of more than one per cent in the last two financial years.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
I refer the Honourable member to the answer given my Rt Hon. friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (26025)
Like any employer, HM Treasury does not discuss individual personnel matters, however details on the remuneration of Special Advisers appointed in the current Government and information on the remuneration of Special Advisers during the Coalition Government are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/special-adviser-data-releases-numbers-and-costs
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 10 February 2016 to Question 26025, for what reason Thea Rogers' salary increased from £69,250 in 2014 to £98,000 in 2015.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
Like any employer HM Treasury does not comment on individual personnel matters. Special Advisor salaries are determined accurately to the responsibilities and seniority of each individual role.
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 6 January 2016 to Question 21408, when the Government plans to reach a decision on funding for the National Illegal Money Lending Team.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Government is continuing to explore options to ensure that the England and Wales Illegal Money Lending Teams have the funding they need to ensure that consumers continue to be protected from illegal loan sharks as a matter of urgency.
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 15 December 2015 by the Minister for Skills, Official Report, column 1401, if he will introduce a levy to continue to fund action against loan sharks by the National Illegal Money Lending Team.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Government is looking at a range of ways to ensure that the England and Wales Illegal Money Lending Teams have the funding they need to ensure that consumers continue to be protected from illegal loan sharks.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to maintain current levels of funding for the National Illegal Money Lending Team.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Government is looking at a range of ways to ensure that the England and Wales Illegal Money Lending Teams have the funding they need to ensure that consumers continue to be protected from illegal loan sharks.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the recent effect on the public purse of the sale of public assets in the (a) Royal Bank of Scotland and (b) Royal Mail; and what steps he is taking to ensure the further sale of public assets does not result in a loss to the public purse.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
On 4 August 2015, the government sold approximately 5.4% of its shareholdings in the Royal Bank of Scotland raising £2.1 billion in proceeds. The proceeds raised from the sale will be used to pay down the government’s national debt.
The recent sale of Royal mail shares on 11 June 2015 raised proceeds of £750 million which will also be used to pay down the government’s national debt