Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the statement by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in his foreword to HM Revenue and Customs' consultation document, Tackling marketed tax avoidance, that there is evidence that in the vast majority of cases of challenges in court to tax avoidance schemes, when the dispute is resolved, tax is due, what that evidence is and what the range and frequency of amounts so due has been, on a graduated scale from £1 owing and upwards.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been successful in challenging tax avoidance and, in relation to avoidance cases that go to litigation, around 80% of cases litigated resulting in the tax being due. This led to around £1.7 billion of tax being protected in 2013. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the range and frequency of amounts of tax due without causing undue cost on the department to provide the information.
The Government considered different options for the consultation period for the proposals but concluded that the time period made available was reasonable. There were a very large number of responses, which suggests that the timescale did not cause any undue impediment to those who wished to give their views in response to the consultation. ‘Tackling Marketed Tax Avoidance' followed on from the earlier consultation over the summer of 2013 ‘Raising the Stakes on Tax Avoidance', which consulted in detail on the initial proposal for the Follower Notice measure.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HM Revenue and Customs' consultation document, Tackling marketed tax avoidance, published on 24 January 2014, whether consideration was given to (a) running the consultation for longer than one calendar month and (b) initiating it earlier, to allow more time for the decision-taking process in advance of the March 2014 Budget Statement.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been successful in challenging tax avoidance and, in relation to avoidance cases that go to litigation, around 80% of cases litigated resulting in the tax being due. This led to around £1.7 billion of tax being protected in 2013. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of the range and frequency of amounts of tax due without causing undue cost on the department to provide the information.
The Government considered different options for the consultation period for the proposals but concluded that the time period made available was reasonable. There were a very large number of responses, which suggests that the timescale did not cause any undue impediment to those who wished to give their views in response to the consultation. ‘Tackling Marketed Tax Avoidance' followed on from the earlier consultation over the summer of 2013 ‘Raising the Stakes on Tax Avoidance', which consulted in detail on the initial proposal for the Follower Notice measure.
Asked by: Stephen O'Brien (Conservative - Eddisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Danny Alexander
The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury web site. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances. The valuation of preventing fatalities makes a contribution to the calculation of risk reduction in many situations and is used extensively by the Department for Transport among others. Department of Health policies are likely to impact on health and longevity. For the majority of these policies, the impacts will be quantified in terms of quality adjusted life years. The cost of producing a quality adjusted life year is used as part of the appraisal and evaluation of alternative health investments.