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.