Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many buildings leased or owned by HMRC are currently not occupied; and if he will publish a list of those buildings with the (a) dates since when those buildings have not been occupied and (b) rental and other charges paid on those buildings during those periods in which they have not been occupied.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC currently has 3 unoccupied properties on its estate, all held through the STEPS PFI Contract with Mapeley. Details of these properties are provided below.
Property | Date unoccupied from | Cost for unoccupied period | Notes |
Riverside House, Woolwich High Street, London, SE18 6DN | 31 Oct 2017 | £250,000 | Office |
10/14 Hawbank Road, College Milton Industrial Estate, East Kilbride, Strathclyde G74 5HA | 31 Mar 2017 | £475,000 | Warehouse |
Rayleigh, 16 Totman Crescent, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 7XG. | 31 Mar 2017 | £140,000 | Warehouse |
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HMRC have taken to work collaboratively with initiatives under the One Public Estate programme in West Sussex to accrue savings to the public purse.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HM Revenue and Customs initiated meetings with West Sussex Council. They were not advanced enough in their plans under the One Public Estate to fit HMRC’s plans to locate its Specialist Site in Worthing.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of changes in the level of costs to (a) car auctions and (b) other industries for debit card transaction charges as a result of the Interchange Fee Regulation.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The European Commission plans to review the effectiveness of the Interchange Fee Regulation in the coming years as part of its usual process. Government has therefore not made a formal assessment of the impact of the Interchange Fee Regulation.
The Government is open to hearing views on this issue, and digital payments more broadly, as evidenced by its recently closed call for evidence on cash and digital payments in the new economy. This sought information on how the shift from cash to digital payments impacts on different sectors, different regions and different demographics. The Government will formally respond to the call for evidence in due course.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of regularising the rate of duty between sparkling wine produced in the UK and such wine produced in France.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The government keeps all taxes under review. Any changes to wine duty rates would need to take account of a wide range of factors, including the Exchequer impact, the impact on businesses, public health and the distributional impact of reform.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to update the Exchequer Impact data on the Tax Impact Information Note relating to alcohol duty rate changes; and if he will halt planned increases in wine duty.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Tax Impact and Information Notes (TIINS) are published alongside new tax measures and represent the estimated impact of a measure at that time. TIINs published for previous measures are not retrospectively edited.
The government keeps all taxes under review at fiscal events, and we will consider this issue carefully as part of the Autumn Budget process.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing regional rates of stamp duty.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Scotland Act 2012 provided the Scottish Parliament with powers to replace UK Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). Land and Buildings Transaction Tax replaced UK SDLT in Scotland from 1 April 2015. From April 2018, Land Transaction Tax will replace UK SDLT in Wales. The Government holds all taxes under review.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what has been the increase in duty on a bottle of English (a) still and (b) sparkling wine in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Current and historic duty rates for wine can be found in HM Revenue and Custom's published Alcohol Bulletin on the UK Trade Info website. This can be found at:
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of regularising the rate of duty between still and sparkling wine.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The government keeps all taxes under review. Any changes to wine duty rates would need to take account of a wide range of factors, including the Exchequer impact, the impact on businesses, public health and the distributional impact of reform.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax revenue was generated from UK-produced Gin in the last year for which figures are available.
Answered by Andrew Jones
This information is not available as the government does not break down the amount of duty collected from spirits by Gin.
Information on the amount of duty collected through alcohol taxation is routinely published online by HM Revenue & Customs in the ‘Tax & Duty Bulletins’ section of the UK Trade Info website. This can be found at:
https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made on the effect on the wine and spirit industry of the 3.9 per cent increase in duty paid.
Answered by Andrew Jones
As for every Finance Bill measure, HMRC provided a Tax Impact Information Note which included an impact assessment of alcohol duty changes. This can be found online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rate-changes/alcohol-duty-rate-changes
The government keeps all taxes under review at fiscal events, and we will consider this issue carefully as part of the Autumn Budget process. Any changes to alcohol duties need to take account of a wide range of factors, including the Exchequer impact, the impact on businesses and consumers, public health and the distributional impact of reform.
Until exit negotiations are concluded, the UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force. We will seek to achieve the right deal for Britain and for the EU.