Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the effect of the Government's steps to tackle aggressive tax avoidance on the revenues derived from general taxation.
Answered by David Gauke
During this Parliament, we have already announced that we will legislate for more than 25 measures to tackle avoidance and evasion, which are forecast to raise £16 billion by 2021.
During the last Parliament, we made over 40 changes to tax law, closing down loopholes and introducing major reforms to the UK tax system. These were forecast to have raised £12 billion by 2016.
During the last Parliament, as a result of actions to tackle tax evasion, tax avoidance, aggressive tax planning and non-compliance, HM Revenue and Customs secured around £100 billion in additional compliance revenue. This includes over £38 billion from big businesses and £1.2 billion extra from the UK’s richest people.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of successful prosecutions for tax evasion.
Answered by David Gauke
At Summer Budget 2015, the Government announced an investment of £800 million to tackle non‑compliance and tax evasion.
This investment includes £266 million and 670 new HMRC staff to tackle tax fraud, which will lead to a tripling of the number of criminal investigations into the most serious and complex tax crimes.
The Government is also consulting on new criminal powers to tackle offshore tax evasion and corporate facilitation of tax evasion.
This all builds on the Government’s earlier investment into HMRC, which enabled the Department to achieve a seven-fold increase in the number of prosecutions over the course of the last parliament and contributed to the protection over £2 billion of vital public revenue last year.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to table 2.7 on page 85 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, which Departments will fund the cross-government overseas development aid spending set out in that table in each of the five years from 2015-16 to 2019-20.
Answered by Greg Hands
As set out in the strategy for official development assistance “UK Aid: tackling global challenges in the national interest”, published on 23 November, meeting our responsibilities to the world’s poorest while also serving and protecting the UK’s interests and security, requires us to harness skills from across government.
The cross government ODA funding in “Table 2.7: Department for International Development (DFID)” is part of DFID’s total DEL settlement. DFID will transfer this to other government departments and cross government funds to spend on activities that can be classified as Official Development Assistance (ODA) according to the OECD definition.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of falling oil prices on the rural economy.
Answered by Danny Alexander
The sterling oil price has fallen by around 50% since the middle of last year. The IMF have forecast that world GDP could be boosted by up to 0.7% as a result of the fall.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the benefits of these price falls are passed through to households in rural areas of the UK, which combined with the Government’s action to help these hardworking families, will boost real household incomes in these areas.
Our rural communities rely on their cars, with 93% of households in the most rural areas owning one or more vehicle. The recent falls in pump prices will therefore be benefitting these rural communities more than those in towns and cities.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the European Commission on budgetary prudence with regards to EU staff pay and pensions.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government is committed to a significant reduction in EU administrative costs, including the level of pay and pensions for EU staff. The Prime Minister’s deal on the Multiannual Financial Framework delivered a real terms cut to the EU’s seven year budget. Nevertheless, EU administrative spending remains unacceptably high and the Government routinely pushes the European Commission for restraint.