Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 30 September to Question 291404, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of local authorities using limited liability partnerships to avoid corporation tax on commercial activity.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government expects all businesses, including public bodies, to apply the tax rules correctly.
As set out in HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidance, public sector organisations should not engage in, or connive at, tax evasion, tax avoidance or tax planning.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to stimulate demand for commercial electric vehicles by reducing VAT for those vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has set an ambitious, legally binding target to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the UK by 2050.
Although there are no plans at present to reduce the VAT charge on electric vehicles, the Government keeps all taxes under review and assesses them against a range of fiscal and environmental considerations. The Government already makes available an incentive for the public to purchase electric vehicles over conventional vehicles: the Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG) provides grants of up to £3,500 for the purchase of a new battery electric vehicle. PiCG was launched in 2011 and has supported the purchase of around 170,000 Ultra Low Emission Vehicles.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to ensure a level playing field in local economies by making local authorities subject to corporation tax on commercial activity.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Commercial activity undertaken by local authorities carried on in a separate taxable subsidiary is already subject to Corporation Tax on profits.Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to increase take-home pay for low-paid workers.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The government is committed to making work pay and keeping more money in people’s pockets.
On 1 April we saw another above inflation increase to our National Living Wage, meaning a full-time worker on the National Living Wage will be earning £690 more over the coming year. And the personal allowance has increased to £12,500, meaning a typical basic rate taxpayer will pay £130 less tax than in 2018-19 and £1,205 less tax than in 2010-11.
Economic growth is key to growing wages. That’s why we’re investing record amounts in infrastructure, supporting businesses to grow and keeping taxes low. Wages are growing strongly, at 3.2% in the latest data and have outstripped inflation for 12 consecutive months.
The government has an aspiration to end low pay and will set a new remit for the Low Pay Commission, for the years beyond 2020, later this year.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to exempt pensioners from Stamp Duty when they downsize their homes.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Most owners wishing to downsize are likely to have equity in their current property, and are already exempt from Capital Gains Tax on any gain made on their main residence. For most of those looking to downsize, the SDLT due on the move-in property will be small, and in most cases, it will be lower than estate agent’s fees.
The Government therefore has no current plans for a further relief for those looking to downsize. The Government’s priority is to support first time buyers, which is why the Autumn Budget 2017 announced the introduction of First-Time Buyers’ Relief. Since its introduction, 288,300 households have benefitted from First-Time Buyers’ Relief, saving around £2,360 on average.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to abolish the Fibre Tax.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The government is introducing a five-year business rates relief for new fibre infrastructure to support the rollout of new fibre broadband infrastructure and future 5G communications to homes and businesses.
In terms of their rates liability on existing fibre, telecom networks will benefit from recent measures to reduce the burden of business rates by over £10bn by 2023.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to review tax rates applicable to the telecommunications industry for SMEs investing in broadband fibre.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government keeps all tax rates under review, and is already introducing a five-year business rates relief for new full-fibre infrastructure.
The government has also launched a £190m Challenge Fund, the £67m nationwide Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and the Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund with £400m of public investment to stimulate the market to build full-fibre infrastructure and connect more homes and businesses than ever before.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the annual cost to the to the Exchequer of all subsidies and reliefs for business in the financial years 2010 to 2015.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Tax Reliefs
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes the Exchequer cost for around 180 reliefs in its annual publication on the cost of tax reliefs. This list includes reliefs provided to both individuals and households as well as businesses.
The data for the years 2012-13 to 2015-16 was published on 31 December 2015 and a link is provided below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-expenditures-and-ready-reckoners
The data for the years 2010-11 and 2011-12 were published in December 2011 and 2012 and a link is provided below:
Public Spending Grants and Subsidies
Information on ‘subsidies to private sector companies’ is published in Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses. A link is provided below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-expenditure-statistical-analyses-2015
Table 2.1 on budgetary expenditure by economic category of spend includes this category on page 40 under ‘resource budgets’. Information is published for the last five outturn years.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of reductions in the level of the Bus Service Operators Grant that were made in 2012; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Treasury has not assessed the effect of reductions in the level of the Bus Service Operator Grant on the economy.
The Treasury do however recognise the important role buses play in supporting both our economy and society and as such ensured no further cut to the Bus Service Operator Grant was implemented through the 2013 Spending Round. The Government are also taking action though the upcoming Buses Bill to provide local areas with the powers they have requested to help them to deliver better local bus services.
Asked by: Stephen McPartland (Conservative - Stevenage)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will potentially lose their personal tax allowance as a result of the provisions set out in clause 24 of the Finance Bill 2015.
Answered by David Gauke
The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.