Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the business rates revaluation increased business rates for shops that had a rateable value of (a) above and (b) below £51,000.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The 2023 business rates revaluation will update ratable values to ensure bills more closely reflect the commercial property market and means the burden of rates is fairly redistributed across all non-domestic properties. Total business rates paid by the retail sector is estimated to fall by 20 per cent as a result of the revaluation.
At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of changes and tax cuts worth £13.6 billion to ratepayers over the next five years. The package contains new measures to reduce the burden of business rates, including a freeze in the multiplier, extended relief for high street businesses, an exchequer funded transitional relief scheme, and targeted support for small businesses.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to regularly update mileage and fuel rates and allowances in line with the cost of using a vehicle for work.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) are used by employers for administrative ease as a means of reimbursing an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle.
Like all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rate under review.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to meet with meet with Baroness Kate Rock to discuss the recommendations on taxation made in her Tenancy Working Group Report.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is considering the recommendations on taxation made in the Rock Review. The Government will publish a formal response to the review in due course.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the additional costs associated with sight loss and the potential merits of providing targeted cost of living support to those affected.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that the rising cost of living has presented additional financial challenges to many people, and especially to the most vulnerable members of society, such as people with sight loss. That is why the Government is taking decisive action to support households while ensuring we act in a fiscally responsible way.
At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced that it will provide a further Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 in 2023/24 to people in receipt of extra-costs disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA). This is additional to the £150 payment for recipients of disability benefits in 2022 already announced as part of the Cost of Living package in May.
These payments can be received in addition to the other Cost of Living Payments for households on means-tested benefits, namely the £650 payment announced in May and the additional £900 payment announced at Autumn Statement. Individuals who have limited or no ability to work because of their disability or health condition, and are in receipt of means-tested benefits such as income-related Employment and Support Allowance or the Universal Credit Health top up, are eligible for this support.
People with sight loss will also benefit from other forms of non-means-tested support which the Government is providing to assist with household energy bills. We have taken decisive action to support millions of households with rising energy costs through the Energy Price Guarantee, which limits the price suppliers can charge customers for units of gas and electricity.
This cost of living support is in addition to the existing specific financial support to help blind or partially sighted people. The Government provides the Blind Person's Allowance (BPA), an extra amount of tax-free allowance that can be added to an individual’s Personal Allowance, to those who are blind or severely sight impaired. In 2022-23, the allowance is £2,600 and therefore worth £520 given the basic rate of 20%. If the recipient does not pay tax or earn enough to use their full BPA, the remainder of the allowance can be transferred to a spouse or civil partner.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of temporarily increasing the VAT taxable turnover threshold from £85,000 to help small businesses with the rise in the cost of living.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The UK has the highest VAT registration threshold in the OECD and as compared to EU Member States at £85,000. This keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether.
Whilst the Government keeps all taxes under review, it was announced at Budget 2021 that the VAT threshold will be maintained at its current level of £85,000 until 31 March 2024.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward proposals to increase council tax by up to 100 per cent on second homes.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
It would not be appropriate to comment on the likelihood of future tax changes outside of fiscal events. However, the Government keeps all tax policy under review.
It is worth noting that purchases of second homes in England and Northern Ireland will be liable to pay the Higher Rates for Additional Dwellings Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge. This was introduced in 2016 as part of the Government’s commitment to support first time buyers.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Stamp Duty holiday on the number of second homes purchased in rural communities.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The temporary increase in the Stamp Duty Land Tax nil rate band was designed to create immediate momentum within the property market, where property transactions fell by as much as 50 per cent during the COVID-19 lockdown in March. The downturn in the market meant that the future was uncertain for many people whose jobs relied on custom from the property industry. Since July, the SDLT holiday has supported about 640,000 residential property transactions in England and Northern Ireland.
Purchases of second properties are still liable to pay the higher rate of SDLT for additional dwellings, which is three percentage points above the standard rates.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether directors of limited companies are eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Directors who pay themselves a salary through a PAYE scheme are eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
For periods from 1 November 2020 to 30 April 2021, an employer can claim for employees employed on or before 30 October 2020. The employer must have also made a PAYE Real Time Information submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the tax per transaction for retail purchases that are made (a) online and (b) offline.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government published a Call for Evidence on 21 July, as part of its Fundamental Review of Business Rates, to gather views from stakeholders on all elements of the Business Rates system and a number of alternative taxes including an Online Sales Tax.
One of the objectives of the Call for Evidence was to understand the impact of business rates on various sectors, including retailers.
The Government is considering responses to the Business Rates Review and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses received support under the Government’s Enhanced Capital Allowance Scheme, which ended on 1 February 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In 2018-19 (the latest year available), approximately 4,700 companies claimed enhanced capital allowances for energy saving equipment and environmentally beneficial equipment.
Although any claims for these allowances can be identified within the current version of the company tax return, the level of such claims in all tax returns is likely to be affected by the Annual Investment Allowance which businesses may claim to obtain tax relief for these types of investments. This is another type of 100 percent capital allowance but which is subject to a cap which has been temporarily set at £1 million since 2019.