The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston)

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I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

Before I start the debate, I should declare, to avoid any potential conflict or perception of conflict, that, with reference to my previously published entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and my ministerial interests, I have recused myself from making ministerial decisions on issues relating to pillar two, which will be dealt with more than ably by the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Gareth Davies).

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered an autumn statement with a clear intention to strengthen the economy now and for the future. The Government proposed to do that by putting money back in people’s pockets and cutting taxes. The Finance Bill that we are debating today does just that. First, it supports British businesses by allowing them to invest for less, which will encourage innovation and enhance productivity. Secondly, its measures will improve and simplify our tax system, which will ensure that it is fit for purpose.

The Bill covers 36 different measures in total, some of which are more complex than others. Madam Deputy Speaker, you will be pleased—or perhaps displeased—to know that I do not intend to cover every one in detail in this opening speech. I would like to focus on some of the key themes and measures.

I will first detail the Bill’s measures to support British business. The Government understand the simple truth that a strong private sector drives economic growth. That growth in turn serves the public good by allowing the Government to invest in public services. Perhaps most importantly, it allows the Government to support the most vulnerable. That understanding has shaped our approach. That is why we are lowering business taxes: because it will incentivise investment and boost private sector growth.

The Bill’s first measure to achieve that will make full expensing permanent, allowing businesses to invest for less. As a result, the UK’s plant and machinery capital allowances will increase. It is effectively a tax cut to companies of over £10 billion a year—the most generous of any major economy. The benefits to the economy of the policy—just this measure alone—are that it will drive 0.1% GDP growth over the next five years, increasing to almost 0.2% in the long run, and it will unlock an additional £3 billion of investment per year. That is only one of many Government policies backing British businesses.

The Government also recognise the important role of research and development in driving both innovation and economic growth as well as the benefits it can bring to society as a whole. Therefore, we will merge two Government programmes: the research and development expenditure credit scheme and the small or medium enterprises scheme. That will have two key impacts: it will simplify the system and provide greater support for UK firms to drive innovation. Those changes will apply from April 2024 onwards.

The support does not stop there. The Government will also introduce greater support for loss-making R&D-intensive SMEs. We will also lower the R&D intensity threshold required to access that to 30%. That will help about 5,000 extra SMEs, and they will receive £27 per £100 of qualifying R&D invested. Let us be in no doubt that this is a major boost for innovators across the UK. These measures significantly increase support to R&D firms to about £280 million a year by 2028-29, and overall they will ensure the success of UK plc.

I will now outline the next measure to back British businesses. The Government will extend the sunset clause for two more programmes: the enterprise investment scheme and the venture capital trust scheme. Both will be extended to 6 April 2035. That will support young companies to raise capital for successful growth.

The Government applaud our world-leading creative sector—after all, it grew 1.5 times faster than GDP between 2010 and 2019. In response, a new measure to back British business will go even further through reforming tax reliefs to refundable expenditure credits for the film, TV and video games industries.

Nigel Huddleston

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Yes. My hon. Friend makes an important point. The jobs and economic activity are hugely important, but we are known throughout the world for excelling in the creative sectors—we always have, and we always will. We can all be proud of the incredible creative talent in the UK. He is also right to highlight how it is spread right across the UK.

Nigel Huddleston

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The hon. Lady makes an important point about the success of our creative industries, and particularly the music industry and orchestras. She will be well aware, though, that we are not in the European Union any more, so some of the EEA measures no longer apply. Instead, we have to be World Trade Organisation-compliant. That bring some challenges, but we are certainly there to support the industry across a whole range of measures. I have already mentioned some of them, but we are doing even more with targeted measures to support the sector, because we want to boost investment in three other areas: animated film, animated TV and children’s TV programmes. As a result, those will be eligible for a 5% uplift to a 39% credit rate.

Nigel Huddleston

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As I outlined, I think the hon. Lady is hoping for measures to turn back the clock to when we were in the EU. We are not in the EU any more, and therefore the world is a different place. However, we are always keen to support and engage with the creative industries, and orchestras in particular. When I was at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, we raised those issues again and again—actually, with considerable success—to enable orchestras and tourers to get across Europe, often by doing individual deals with individual countries, which we sometimes have to do now that we are no longer in the European Union.

I will now outline measures to support our employment-boosting agenda. The path to achieve this is clear: we must remove both barriers to work and incentives not to work. Perhaps most of all, though, we must ensure that hard work is rewarded. That is why our spring Budget announcements were so important. Let us take the abolition of the lifetime allowance. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that that will retain 15,000 workers annually and the Bill completes that change by removing the lifetime allowance from the statute book completely.

I now turn to the measures to simplify our tax system. Complex and inefficient taxes are one of the biggest restrictions on businesses. They often come at a high cost in terms of both time and capital. It is the Government’s duty to deliver a modern, simpler tax system and the measures in the Bill will help to do just that. Making full expensing permanent is a huge simplification for larger firms, but we are going further by expanding the cash basis for over 4 million smaller growing traders. This will simplify the process to calculate their profits and pay income tax. We have also listened closely to feedback from businesses and, as a result of that consultation, some of the main restrictions on using the cash basis will be removed. The simpler cash basis will be the default method for calculating profit, and businesses will therefore start on the simpler regime as standard. We will also be taking forward other technical small measures. Those will include improving the data that His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs collects from its customers. These measures will result in a trusted modern tax administration system.

We must also build a tax system that is fair and works for everyone. We cannot understate the role of tax in supporting our public services. Taxes pay for them directly and, through attracting investment, indirectly. We must all fairly play our part. The Bill will make promoting tax avoidance a crime in circumstances where persons continue to promote a scheme after the receipt of a stop notice. It will also enable HMRC to act more quickly to tackle promoters of tax avoidance by introducing a new power for HMRC to bring disqualification action against the directors of companies involved in promoting tax avoidance. We will also reduce the scope for tax fraud in the construction industry by amending the construction industry scheme. The amendment will add VAT to the gross payment status test. This means two things: that compliance will now be checked as part of this process, and that HMRC powers to remove gross payment status will be enhanced.

Of course, it is only fair that we also guard against over-collection of tax. The Bill addresses a concern here, too. It will do so by enabling HMRC to reduce the off-payroll working PAYE liability of a deemed employer who is responsible for ensuring that PAYE is calculated and sent to HMRC correctly. This will apply where that engagement is incorrectly treated as self-employed for tax purposes.

It also remains important that we are in lockstep with our international partners during such unprecedented times. In spring, we legislated to implement OECD pillar two in the UK, building on the historic agreement built by the Prime Minister, to a two-pillar solution to the tax challenges of a globalised digital economy. In the Bill, we are making technical amendments to the main pillar two rules identified from stakeholder consultation. That is to ensure that the UK remains consistent with the latest internationally agreed guidance.

The Bill builds on the autumn statement that focused on the long-term growth of the UK economy and sound economic policy. What a contrast to Labour’s fantasy economics, including £28 billion per year of additional spending without any idea where that money will come from—although we all know at heart that it will be taxpayers or through more debt, which is, of course, just deferred taxation. In contrast, this Finance Bill backs British businesses, rewards hard work, and supports a modern and simpler tax system. In doing so, it delivers on the Government’s commitments to prioritise economic growth, encourage business investment, nurture innovation and simplify our tax system to combat tax avoidance. For those reasons, I commend the Bill to the House.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Gareth Davies)

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What a great pleasure it is to close this debate on the Finance Bill on behalf of the Government. I want to thank my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary, who is new in post, and to recognise the work of his predecessor and my constituency neighbour in Lincolnshire, my right hon. Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), who carried out a great deal of work on this Finance Bill in the run-up to the autumn statement.

I will address a number of the points raised in this very good debate—it was lacking on quantity, but high on quality from a number of sources—but before I reflect on the comments, let me reflect on the Bill. Be in no doubt but that this Finance Bill will mean that companies will pay less tax if they invest more. It will simplify and strengthen tax reliefs to bolster innovation, and it makes the tax system fairer and more secure. Taken together, the measures contained in it will strengthen our economy and create more opportunities for more rewarding work in every corner of this country.

I will now turn to the comments made by a number of colleagues. I will start with my hon. Friend the Member for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin), the Chair of the Treasury Committee, who has carried out significant work on the tax simplification programme with her Committee. The Government are clear that we want the tax system to be simpler and fairer, and to support growth. As she mentioned, the Financial Secretary has written to her just this week setting out the progress we are making on simplification. This autumn statement, and the Finance Bill in particular, has a number of measures, not least the capital allowances and the R&D expenditure credit consolidation. This a step in the right direction, but we are not complacent and we will continue to go further.

I was heartened to hear cross-party support for full expensing. That is in the context of the lowest headline rate of corporation tax in the G7, but the autumn statement announcement, and the provision in the Bill, is a £10 billion-a-year effective tax cut, called for by the IFS, the CBI, the IOD, Make UK, and many other businesses across the country. It is also in conjunction—this is not in the Bill—with a business rates package that will see a freeze for more than 90% of rate payers in this country.

The hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) made a comment about the oil and gas sector. Let me be clear: this Government have resolute support for our domestic oil and gas sector, and its 210,000 jobs. She called for a “proper tax” on oil and gas companies, and I can tell her that we already have one of the highest rates of windfall tax in the world. The energy price levy strikes the right balance between providing support for families and businesses through an energy crisis—namely through the energy price guarantee, which effectively paid 50% of people’s energy bills—while also encouraging investment to bolster our energy security. Conservative Members want to see the sector’s profits reinvested to support our domestic economy, our jobs, and our domestic energy security. Investment allowances within the EPL help to do that, and the energy security investment mechanism, which I announced in June, will help to provide banks with certainty in their modelling as they provide financing to the oil and gas sector, and as they are part of the transition to net zero.

Along with SNP Members, the hon. Member also said that she would like an increase in tax on banks, but she failed to mention that tax on banks has increased in recent times from 27% to 28%. She failed to mention that the tax revenue contribution from banks has increased significantly from £17 billion in 2010, to more than £33 billion today. That helps to pay for our NHS, our education, our defence, and many other public services that we all rely on. We want our banking system to be internationally competitive, and to keep the 1 million jobs that it employs stable and secure.

Many Opposition colleagues have mentioned living standards, and they are right. Conservative Members care deeply about that issue. That is why as part of the autumn statement, we increased the state pension by 8.5% as part of the triple lock which, by the way, has brought 200,000 pensioners out of poverty since it was introduced by a Conservative Prime Minister. We have also uprated benefits by 6.7%, and uprated the local housing allowance, which will benefit 1.6 million households across the country. That was on the back of a £289 billion welfare budget. Under this Government 400,000 children have been brought out of absolute poverty, and we have seen the Government step in with significant support through two global shocks of covid and the energy price spike, with £500 billion of support to get people through.

Gareth Davies

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I will not give way. We are going to proceed I’m afraid; the hon. Gentleman has had his chance.

I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel) who has great consistency when it comes to reducing the tax burden. She has made clear her views on our tax system, and we agree with her. We have a keenness to bring taxes down, but we will do it in a responsible way that is in line with sustainable public finances. She also made clear her consistent campaign on pillar 2, and we are very alive to her concerns. I am pleased that the Chancellor recently met and wrote to her, following the two fiscal statements. I understand her concerns about sovereignty, and I assure her that the pillar 2 provisions do not impact on sovereignty or indeed on competitiveness. The provisions in the Bill are technical amendments that we will discuss in more detail as it goes into Committee.

Finally I thank, as always, my hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Sir Robert Syms) for his positivity about our economy, which does not always get reported. For me, his critical point was about looking at the long-term performance of the economy, not just at the provisions we are putting in place. Instead of looking month by month by month, we should look at long-term provision.

In conclusion, in January this year, the Prime Minister set out his priorities for the Government. Three of them were economic and, since then, we have seen our inflation cut in half and our economy is expected to grow in every year of the OBR’s forecast period. That is half a decade of uninterrupted growth. Because we are reducing borrowing, debt is now forecast to fall. Put simply, we have turned a corner, and it is because of the actions of this Government, this Prime Minister and this Chancellor.

This is a Conservative approach through supply-side reform, and it is in stark contrast to the Labour party’s debt-driven ambitions. We know that its plans to borrow some £28 billion every year for green initiatives will put at risk the great progress that we and the British public have achieved. The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has issued a stark warning for Labour’s plans. It said they will increase inflation and drive up interest rates, leading to more debt, higher rates, higher inflation, fewer jobs and more tax. That is the Labour party’s playbook. We cannot let that happen, and we will not.

We want an economy driven by enterprise, and by workers and by businesses throughout this country who push and strive, making us more competitive abroad and resilient at home. We want a tax system that pushes up businesses and workers who want to succeed, not that pulls them down when they do succeed. The autumn statement was a statement for growth, investment, work and reward. The measures in the Bill will deliver much of that, so I strongly commend the Bill to the House.

Question put, That the amendment be made.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston)

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This Government’s aim is to grow the economy for the good of everyone by removing barriers to private sector investment and delivering a tax system that is supportive of business. At the spring Budget 2023, the Chancellor set out his approach for a highly competitive tax regime. By announcing a package of generous tax incentives, combined with a rate of corporation tax that remains the lowest in the G7, this Government have ensured that the UK continues to be one of the best places in the world for businesses to grow and invest.

The Bill marks our next step in making the UK one of the most competitive tax systems among major economies by enhancing the support that the corporation tax system provides to businesses that drive growth by making long-term investments. It meets the Government’s commitment to introduce permanent full expensing, as announced at the autumn statement, solidifying our international competitiveness and creating the certainty that businesses have told us they need in order to confidently invest. The Bill will also drive UK business innovation by merging the existing research and development expenditure credit scheme with the small and medium enterprise scheme. Merging those schemes will simplify and improve the system for supporting cutting-edge research and development.

Turning first to clause 1, at spring Budget 2023, the Government introduced two new temporary first-year capital allowances for qualifying expenditure on plant or machinery. The first was a 100% first-year allowance for so-called main rate expenditure, known as full expensing, which allows companies to write off the full cost of plant and machinery in the year that the cost is incurred. The second was a 50% first-year allowance for expenditure on special-rate assets such as lighting systems, thermal insulation and long-life assets, allowing companies to write off half the cost of an asset in the year that it is incurred, with the remaining balance written down at 6% in every year afterwards.

The Chancellor was clear that his long-term ambition was to make those new reliefs permanent once the fiscal and economic conditions allowed, and at the autumn statement he confirmed that he was able to do just that. Clause 1 delivers that ambition, making both full expensing and the 50% first-year allowance permanent by removing the end date of 31 March 2026. That means that companies will be able to permanently benefit from full expensing. It solidifies our position as joint top of the rankings of OECD countries with regard to plant and machinery capital allowances, and means we are the only major economy with permanent full expensing.

The change will give companies the certainty they need to make long-term investments, and responds to calls from the CBI, Make UK, Energy UK and 200 other business groups and leaders, and from companies including BT Openreach, Siemens and Bosch, which have said that making the policy permanent would be the single most transformational thing the Government could do for business investment and growth. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, it will generate almost £3 billion of additional business investment each year and £14 billion over the course of the next five years. The forecast is that GDP will be 0.1% higher by the end of the forecast period and slightly below 0.2% higher in the long term as a result.

Nigel Huddleston

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My hon. Friend is incredibly knowledgeable about this area through some of his previous business and ministerial experience, and that is a question I am intrigued to hear answered by the Opposition shortly. I believe it is vitally important, because the whole point is to give businesses the confidence to invest in the long term, and certainty is key to the investment decisions being made.

Nigel Huddleston

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I think my hon. Friend is kicking off what is likely to be a long debate over the course of the next year, but an important one for our constituents and businesses. The economy will play a pivotal part in discussions this year. It is very clear what we are doing: we are implementing vital changes, asked for by business and in response to business, to provide that business certainty and an environment in which they and therefore our constituents can thrive. I do not think any of us want to put that at risk. However, without the clarification and confidence from the Opposition about what they might do, these issues will be raised and the uncertainty can persist. We on the Government side of the House are committed to this, and my hon. Friend is right to make that clear.

Nigel Huddleston

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My hon. Friend is right to point out the timing element with both full expensing and R&D; I will come on to R&D in a moment, because I think that is the £55 billion figure he mentions, but these measures, particularly the full expensing, will of course have a long-term impact over a long period of time. The cost is up-fronted, but the benefit is over a long period, and anyone who has worked in business understands that. He is right to point out the anomaly, and it is a very important point because a lot of people probably would not understand it, but the fact that the OBR has highlighted the incremental impact on the economy overall shows that there is a clear and transparent net benefit. The timing of the impact changes, but we are talking about additional investment right away, because we will be giving businesses the confidence to be able to make those decisions and invest immediately.

Nigel Huddleston

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I agree that certainty for business is pivotal, but with both full expensing and R&D the Government, the Chancellor and others have been indicating the direction of travel for some time and therefore giving increased certainty. As I have said, it was mentioned a while ago that we intended to pursue the policy of full expensing when the economic circumstances allowed, and now they do. R&D, which I will come to in a minute, has been discussed for quite a long time and is the result of extensive co-operation with industry.

It is also the reality, though, that Government policy needs to change in response to the nature of a changing economy and to things such as digital, the cloud and so on. When it comes to other investments, we need to make sure that new and emerging policy areas are covered as well. We have seen today, as we saw in the autumn statement, a very clear direction of travel from the Conservative side of the Chamber, which is about incentivising businesses and cutting taxes. Permanent full expensing also simplifies the capital allowances regime overall, as companies can claim the full cost in year one, reducing the need to claim writing-down allowances year on year.

Turning to clause 2 and schedule 1, the Government have also announced the closure of the R&D tax relief review launched in 2021—the point I was just making to the hon. Member for Reading East (Matt Rodda)—alongside a set of changes to simplify and improve the system. Clause 2 makes changes to merge the current R&D expenditure credit and SME schemes for expenditure in accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024, simplifying the system and providing greater support for UK companies to drive innovation.

The merged scheme will have an above-the-line mechanism similar to the R&D expenditure credit, with a rate of 20%. That will make the benefit more visible and easier for companies to factor into their investment decisions. Additionally, small and medium enterprise lossmakers will now be able to carry forward their losses rather than having to surrender them, which will give a total benefit of up to £45 per £100 of R&D expenditure.

There will also be a reduction in the rate at which the merged scheme credit is taxed for lossmakers, from 25% to 19%. That is worth around £120 million per annum to non-intensive lossmakers and will increase the up-front cash benefit for lossmakers. Subcontracting rules in the merged scheme will allow the company taking the decision to do R&D to claim relief on contracted-out R&D. That approach is based on the current SME scheme, which was identified as the best option in the consultation we delivered, and has been refined further following engagement with industry last summer.

Subsidy rules will also be removed, allowing SMEs to claim relief for work for which they receive a grant of a subsidy. This represents an increase in generosity for SMEs as well as being a major tax simplification.

The Government are also legislating for enhanced support for loss-making R&D-intensive SMEs. That was announced at spring Budget 2023 and will benefit 23,000 SMEs a year by providing further support to the most R&D-intensive SMEs while merging the current schemes. The Government are promoting the conditions for enterprise to succeed. Companies claiming the existing SME tax relief will be eligible for a higher payable credit rate of 14.5% if they meet the definition for R&D intensity.

At the summer statement, the Government announced several improvements being made to that enhanced support. The R&D intensity threshold is being lowered to 30% from 40% from April 2024, meaning that around 5,000 more companies will benefit from the support. A one-year grace period is being introduced, providing greater certainty by ensuring that companies that dip under the 30% threshold will continue receiving relief for one year. The same subcontracting rules as the merged scheme will apply to this enhanced support, further helping to simplify the system with one set of rules that both SMEs and larger companies will follow.

Overall, R&D reliefs will support an estimated £55 billion of business R&D expenditure in 2028-29—a 25% increase from £44 billion in 2021-22. Expenditure on R&D reliefs is forecast to increase in every year of the scorecard period. We will also restrict nominations and assignments for R&D relief payment. That measure ensures that genuine businesses get the payment for their R&D claim directly, rather than receiving it through an agent, and is designed to benefit genuine claimants and reduce non-compliance.

Subject to limited exceptions, no R&D tax credit payments will be made to nominee bank accounts, and any R&D tax credit payments must be paid directly to the company that claims for the R&D, so claimants will now receive their payments directly, giving them more control. That will ensure that the person claiming the relief has better oversight of the claim and receives the money into their account quicker. Claimants will also be clearer on exactly how much money is being charged by their agents, rather than just receiving a net amount after fees have been deducted. That builds on previously announced measures and policy changes to help to ensure greater company control over R&D claims.

The Government are committed to making the UK the best place in the world to do business. Full expensing and R&D tax relief support businesses to grow and invest, which will boost productivity and economic growth. That remains the key way to raise everybody’s living standards and to fund high-quality public services throughout the UK. I commend clauses 1 and 2 and schedule 1 to the Committee.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank hon. Members for their contributions. I will take a few moments to respond to quite a few questions raised during the debate. First, I reassure hon. Members that further guidance will be provided on these schemes. Of course, we do not want all the schemes just to exist; we want them to be used so that they have a real-world impact. More information will therefore be coming out about a variety of areas over a period of time.

I gently remind the hon. Member for Ealing North (James Murray), who yet again took the opportunity to talk the UK economy down—the Opposition always do—that every single Labour Government have ended with unemployment higher than what they inherited from the Conservatives. I think the public are well aware of that pattern.

I turn to the many questions raised. I thank my hon. Friends the Members for Amber Valley (Nigel Mills) and for Erewash (Maggie Throup), and indeed Opposition Members for their contributions. On timing, the Government have been clear since the merged scheme consultation was published in January last year that the intended implementation date for the scheme is April 2024. Importantly, in response to that consultation and in recognition of comments, the merged scheme will apply to accounting periods starting on or after 1 April 2024 rather than to expenditure incurred from that date. Again, we will provide further guidance on that.

Nigel Huddleston

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All taxes are kept under review, as are their impacts, so some of the calls for further analysis are not necessary because we do that as a matter of course. It is important to stress that many external studies have found that when full expensing has been introduced in other countries, it has been very effective in supporting investment. Of course, the OBR forecasts predict a boost of £3 billion each year. The analysis of the impact of the super-deduction is already taking place, but companies have 12 months from the end of their accounting period to amend their tax returns, so HMRC will not have complete data on the impact of the super-deduction until 2024. However, we will provide further analysis in due course.

My hon. Friend the Member for Erewash mentioned a whole range of real-world impacts from these measures and the previous measures, including the super-deduction, as well as, importantly, the annual investment allowance of £1 million, which affects the 99% of smaller businesses that can effectively benefit from full expensing. In the autumn statement, we announced full expensing for larger businesses: the top 1%, who conduct about 80% of full investment.

I am aware of time, but will cover a couple of other key points that were raised. My hon. Friend the Member for Erewash raised subcontracting. Again, we engaged extensively with stakeholders on this issue over the summer, and the Government have developed an approach that will allow the person taking the decision to do R&D to claim that relief. That was the preferred result of the consultation. However, an exception will apply in the important area that she mentioned of companies doing R&D—such as in a clinical trial—in the UK for another company that is ineligible for relief because, for example, it is an overseas customer. That is to make sure that the impact is there for everyone to benefit from. The hon. Member for Ealing North also mentioned partnerships; a corporate partner is eligible for full expensing, but an unincorporated partner is not. Again, the annual investment allowance of £1 million covers the investment needs of almost all unincorporated partnerships.

The hon. Member keeps harping on about taxes rising. I strongly advise him to look at his December payslip and compare it to the one he will get shortly. Maybe he will have the decency to come to me and tell me whether his tax is lower or higher. Each fiscal event needs to be taken separately. At the last one, the autumn statement, we cut taxes—national insurance is down 2p. [Interruption.] If the hon. Member does not believe me, I pose this challenge to him: if his payslip shows that his taxes are lower, perhaps he will do me the courtesy of coming to me and apologising, or give the difference to a charity, to put his money where his mouth is.

We do not believe that new clause 1 is necessary because the information has already been published in the tax impact and information notes alongside each change, which give a clear explanation of the policy objectives, along with details of the implementation costs for both HMRC and businesses. Therefore, the new clause is not necessary. I urge the House to reject it, and I commend clauses 1 and 2 and schedule 1 to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 1 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 2 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 1 agreed to.

New Clause 1

Review of reliefs for research and development

“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within three months of this Act being passed, publish a review of the implementation costs of the measures in section 2 incurred by—

(a) HMRC, and

(b) businesses.

(2) The review under subsection (1) must include details of the implementation costs of all measures related to credit or relief for research and development that have been introduced since December 2019.”—(James Murray)

Brought up and read the First time.

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Gareth Davies)

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Clauses 21 and 31 to 34 and schedules 12 and 13 cover technical changes to pillar 2 of the international tax agreement—doubling the maximum sentence for the most egregious forms of tax fraud—the introduction of new powers to tackle the promotion of tax avoidance, and action against fraud in the construction industry scheme.

The UK’s tax gap is currently at an all-time low, at 4.8% of total tax liabilities. That is due to strong Government action to tackle all forms of non-compliance in the tax system, but we are never complacent. That is why we have introduced more than 200 measures since 2010, including 40 since 2021, to reduce the tax gap even further. The Government are taking action to ensure that individuals and companies pay the taxes that are due in the UK. We want to deter individuals from committing fraud in the first place. That is why we are doubling the maximum sentence for tax fraud.

The Government are also taking action against tax avoidance by introducing a new criminal offence of the promotion of tax avoidance and by expediting the disqualification of directors of companies that promote tax avoidance. The measures are designed to protect tax revenues, which are important for funding our vital public services.

It is also important to protect tax revenues from companies shifting profits offshore. That is why the UK implemented pillar 2 on 31 December 2023. We are updating existing legislation with technical amendments today to ensure that UK legislation is consistent with newly agreed guidance, to address further stakeholder comments to clarify terms, and to avoid unintended consequences.

Clause 31 strengthens our enforcement powers when it comes to tax offences. It doubles the maximum prison term, from seven years to 14 years, for individuals convicted of the most egregious cases of tax fraud. This applies to all taxes and duties administered by HMRC. It also increases the maximum penalty for counterfeiting from 10 years to 14 years. These measures demonstrate, I hope, the Government’s intent to crack down on tax fraud and to deter criminal actions that damage the public purse.

Clauses 32 and 33 and schedule 13 seek to target the promotion of tax avoidance, in order to protect taxpayers and reduce the damage inflicted on the public finances. Recent powers such as HMRC’s power to name promoters and their schemes, and its power to issue stop notices, are effectively disrupting promoters’ activities. None the less, a small number of promoters persist in attempting to sidestep the rules, so clause 32 and schedule 13 enable HMRC to act swiftly to seek the disqualification of directors and other individuals who control or exercise influence over companies involved in the promotion of tax avoidance. They enable the removal of those individuals from the avoidance market and will deter others from becoming directors of companies that promote avoidance.

In the Finance Act 2021, the Government introduced rules that allow HMRC to issue stop notices that require promoters to stop promoting specified tax avoidance schemes. Stop notices are an important deterrent tool, as failing to comply with a stop notice can lead to a substantial civil penalty. Clause 33 increases the consequences of failing to comply by introducing a new criminal offence, which will apply to promoters who continue to promote an avoidance scheme after receiving a stop notice. Creating a criminal offence signals the severity of this issue and reinforces the importance of complying with a stop notice.

Finally, clause 34 tackles serious non-compliance in the construction industry. The construction industry scheme requires contractors to withhold tax unless a subcontractor holds gross payment status. Most gross payment status holders are legitimate and compliant construction businesses but, in recent years, gross payment status has been used by organised crime organisations to facilitate fraud. This allows unscrupulous actors to compete unfairly against legitimate businesses. Clause 34 therefore strengthens the tests for gross payment status by adding VAT to the taxes with which subcontractors must demonstrate compliance. This measure is predicted to raise around £300 million over the next five years.

Each of these clauses helps to protect vital tax revenue used to fund our public services. They seek to deter taxpayers from knowingly defrauding the Government and encourage them to act against the promotion of tax avoidance. I therefore ask that clause 21, clauses 31 to 34 and schedules 12 and 13 stand part of the Bill.

Gareth Davies

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I thank hon. Members from across the House for their contributions. I will speak relatively briefly but will try to address some of the points raised. I will deal last with the new clauses, and in the meantime address some of the questions from the hon. Member for Ealing North (James Murray) from the official Opposition. He asked about pillar 1 and the progress being made. This Government fully support pillar 1 and are keen to maintain momentum on its progress as soon as possible. He should take comfort from the recent publication of the substantially agreed text of the multilateral convention. That demonstrates progress, but as I say, we are not complacent on that and are keen to see further progress as soon as possible.

The hon. Gentleman very reasonably asked for more information on sentencing and the action taken by HMRC. I will give him some data. Last year, there were 240 prosecutions. Within that, there were 218 convictions, and 130 of those were custodial sentences and 110 were suspended sentences. That equates to a 90% success rate for HMRC. The hon. Gentleman is right that the average length of a custodial sentence is 24 months. We want to extend a maximum sentence for two reasons: first, to make it clear that we consider fraud and all fraudulent activity some of the most serious crime possible because of its impact on public finances; and secondly, because if the maximum sentence increases, we expect all sentences to rise, as sentences are judged relative to the maximum sentence. However, I stress that it is the Sentencing Council that issues the guidance to judges and it is ultimately judges and the courts who rightly decide what sentences are given to those found guilty.

The hon. Gentleman asked about safeguards for stop notices, and he is right to highlight that that is an important measure for HMRC. I can tell him there have already been 20 stop notices issued since HMRC started issuing them just a year ago, but there are robust governance processes and safeguards in place, including review and appeal rights. However, any criminal sentences are decided by the courts and it is the Sentencing Council that will decide on that. I will look carefully at the other questions he has raised and ask for a written response. If we have that data, I commit to writing to him with that information.

My hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller) has rightly and consistently raised his questions and concerns on pillar 2. I can tell him that the UK is implementing pillar 2 in time and alongside EU member states, Japan and Canada, which I think he would agree are all peers. He asked about China. China has not announced implementation plans for pillar 2, but it is a member of the inclusive framework of countries that are in negotiations right now on pillar 2 and we are monitoring that very carefully, as he would expect. The US Administration have always supported both pillars 1 and 2 and have been one of the strongest advocates for them; as he will know, in 2017, the United States introduced its own domestic version of pillar 2, requiring those companies with foreign income to pay a minimum level of taxation.

The punchline, to answer my hon. Friend’s ultimate question, is that already the agreement has been put in place to ensure that, by 2025, 90% of multinationals will be in play, so we are confident in the robustness of that agreement. He asked about the loan charge; I do not believe that is in scope for this debate, but the Financial Secretary to the Treasury will follow up with him and engage with him and the loan charge and taxpayer fairness all-party parliamentary group in due course.

I will briefly address the new clauses that have been laid down. I will deal with new clauses 2, 5 and 7 together, as they all relate to tax avoidance and evasion, and then I will address new clause 4. New clause 2 would require the Chancellor to provide a report on the average sentence and range of sentences given to offences being amended in clause 31, the number of stop notices issued that clause 33 would apply to and the impact of those clauses on tax revenues. New clause 5 would require the Chancellor to carry out an assessment of the impact of clauses 31 to 34 and schedule 13 on HMRC’s compliance activities and new clause 7 would require the Chancellor to review the effectiveness of the provisions of clause 31 in combating fraud involving taxpayers money.

Let me say straight out of the gate that I agree it is important that we regularly review and evaluate policy. However, the new clauses are unnecessary, as HMRC already publishes detailed information about its compliance and performance on a regular basis. As I have said, the UK tax gap is already at an all-time low of 4.8% and will remain low and stable, given the measures that we are implementing. Every year, HMRC publishes information on the number of custodial sentences received for tax compliance offences and the average sentence length in HMRC’s annual report and accounts. The 2023-24 annual report and accounts will be published this summer, providing a full overview of HMRC’s performance. As most of that information is already publicly available in routine HMRC publications, the assessments legislated for by the new clauses are unnecessary, in our humble view.

New clause 4 would require the Government to report an assessment of the technical changes to pillar 2 introduced in clause 21 and schedule 12. It would consider the efficacy of the technical changes and their impact on multinational profit shifting and tax competition between jurisdictions. The Government consider that such a report is not necessary because the amendments in the Bill are technical changes to enhance the pillar 2 legislation that received Royal Assent just last year. Those amendments simply help to ensure that the policy objectives of the legislation are met fairly and effectively, reflecting both new international guidance and stakeholder comments. Ultimately, it is about avoiding unintended consequences in legislation that has already been passed. Of course, the Government will monitor pillar 2’s overall impact as businesses begin to respond to its implementation around the world—130 countries are privy to it.

I hope to have reassured Members that the additions in new clauses 2, 4, 5 and 7 are not necessary. For the reasons that I have set out, I urge the Committee to reject them. I commend clauses 21 and 31 to 34, and schedules 12 and 13, to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 21 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 12 agreed to.

Clauses 31 and 32 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 13 agreed to.

Clauses 33 and 34 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

New Clause 2

Review of measures to tackle evasion and avoidance

“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within three months of this Act being passed, publish a review of the measures in sections 31 to 33 to tackle evasion and avoidance.

(2) The review under subsection (1) must include details of—

(a) the average sentence handed down in each of the last five years for the offences listed in section 31;

(b) the range of sentences handed down in each of the last five years for the offences listed in section 31;

(c) the number of stop notices issued in each of the last five years to which the measures in section 33 would apply; and

(d) the estimated impact on revenue collected in each of the next five financial years resulting from the introduction of the measures in sections 31 to 33.”—(James Murray.)

This new clause would require the Chancellor to publish details of the sentences given and stop notices issued in each of the last five years to tackle evasion and avoidance, as well as the revenue expected to be generated from the measures to tackle evasion and avoidance in this Act in each of the next five years.

Brought up and read the First time.

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

Nigel Huddleston

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I will take clause 27 first. The changes that it makes clarify how VAT and excise legislation should be interpreted in the light of changes made by the Retained EU (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, which came into effect on 1 January. The Act ends the supremacy and special status afforded to retained EU law in the UK. As we made clear when it was introduced, the Government are taking a bespoke approach to UK VAT and excise law. In line with the 2023 Act, clause 27 confirms that, for VAT and excise, it will no longer be possible for any part of any UK Act of Parliament or domestic subordinate legislation to be quashed or disapplied on the basis that it is incompatible with EU law. In other words, it will no longer be possible for businesses to rely on EU law where it is in conflict with domestic law. The measure also provides that UK VAT and excise law continues to be interpreted as Parliament intended, drawing on rights and principles that currently apply in interpreting UK law.

Nigel Huddleston

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I think some hon. Members may have tried to expand the debate strictly beyond the scope of the measures we are debating; for understandable reasons, I will stick strictly to the clauses.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Sir Mike Penning) made some important points about ensuring that we take full advantage of the benefits of leaving the European Union. Of course, we have already made progress in that area by removing, replacing and improving retained EU law, including revoking all direct EU regulations in relation to customs duty, introducing a UK tariff and domestic customs regime, introducing VAT relief for women’s period products and for the installation of energy-saving materials, and so on. On the points he made regarding potential future changes to VAT, we of course always keep tax under review. He will forgive me for not making tax policy at the Dispatch Box this evening, tempted as I am; that is the purpose of key fiscal events. I will absolutely commit to meeting my right hon. Friend, as I am always willing to listen and hear comments.

Comments were made about encouraging the use of greener fuels. The Government encourage the use of renewable fuels through the renewable transport fuel obligation, which incentivises the use of low-carbon fuels and reduces emissions from fuels supplied for use in transport and non-road mobile machinery. On the point about the Court of Justice, the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 provides that Court of Justice of the European Union judgments issued since the end of the implementation period are not binding on UK courts. On the point about codifying everything, trying to codify all interpretative effects into black and white UK law would of course be a huge endeavour and would require a complete review of all that legislation, taking many years and still leaving significant tax revenue at risk.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 25 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 27 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

The Deputy Speaker resumed the Chair.

Bill (Clauses 1 and 2, schedule 1, clause 21, schedule 12, clauses 25, 27 and 31 to 34, and schedule 13) reported, without amendment, and ordered to lie on the Table.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston)

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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Paisley. I thank all members of the Committee in advance for their attention and participation, and I thank all officials, Clerks and the many stakeholders who have engaged with our discussions to date.

We are first considering the cultural support measures in the Bill. Clause 3 and schedule 2 replace the tax reliefs for film, high-end television, children’s TV, animation and video games with refundable expenditure credits. The audiovisual expenditure credit will replace the four film and TV reliefs. Film and high-end TV productions will receive a credit of 34%. Children’s TV and animated TV and film will receive a credit of 39%. The video games expenditure credit will replace the video games tax relief and will have a rate of 34%. Clauses 4 to 7 and schedules 3 to 6 make changes to ensure that the creative sector tax reliefs remain appropriately targeted and administrated efficiently.

I will turn briefly to the detail, starting with clause 3 and schedule 2, which reform tax reliefs to become expenditure credits. That will ensure that they continue to work as intended following the implementation of the OECD pillar two rules in the UK and elsewhere. A company claiming expenditure credits will not see its effective tax rate lowered as a result. That means that companies will not be at risk of needing to pay a top-up tax after claiming the expenditure credits. The expenditure credits will also go further to support businesses in the creative sector by providing greater benefit than the existing reliefs and greater clarity about the amount of credit that companies can expect to receive.

The expenditure credits will change how tax relief is calculated from a super-deduction to a calculation made directly from qualifying expenditure. The expenditure will increase the amount of relief received by film and high-end TV productions and video games by 0.5%. Children’s TV and animated film and TV production will receive a 5.5% increase in relief.

Under the video games expenditure credit, qualifying expenditure will change from cost incurred in the UK—or the European economic area—to expenditure on goods and services that are used or consumed in the UK. There will be no cap on subcontracting. The Government are making that change to refocus video games tax relief on activity that takes place within the UK. That is appropriate now that the UK has left the EU. Those measures are expected to impact about 3,000 businesses claiming the creative tax reliefs, and we expect to see a positive response and high levels of uptake due to the greater benefit provided by the expenditure credits. Reforming the reliefs to expenditure credits is expected to cost about £60 million a year by 2028-29.

Turning to clauses 4 to 7 and schedules 3 to 6, the theatre, orchestra and museums and galleries tax reliefs have been pivotal in the development of new productions and exhibitions. They have collectively supported almost 25,000 productions since they were introduced. The two-year extension of the 45% and 50% rates of relief, announced at spring Budget 2023, will go even further to boost investment in our world-leading cultural sectors. Clauses 4 to 7 make administrative improvements to these reliefs to provide greater clarity about eligible productions and ensure that the reliefs remain safeguarded from abuse.

Now that we have left the EU, we have the opportunity to refocus our tax reliefs on activity that occurs in the UK and to give organisations more choice over where they source goods and services. That is why clauses 4 to 6 remove EEA costs and instead require expenditure to be used or consumed in the UK. This new approach considers where the goods and services are used, rather than where they are from.

Goods and services from the EEA will qualify, provided that they are used and consumed in the UK, but this will go further, because, for example, payments to a US conductor for rehearsals in the UK would also now qualify for relief, so this goes beyond the EEA. That rule is already in place in the film and TV reliefs, and it is also being implemented for video games tax relief.

The changes made by clauses 4 to 6 change qualifying expenditure for the orchestra, theatre, and museums and galleries exhibition tax reliefs to become costs incurred on goods and services used or consumed in the UK. The clauses require companies to disclose transactions between connected parties when making claims for relief, and to charge connected parties for goods and services at the same price as they would charge unrelated companies. This rule will also apply to the audiovisual expenditure credit and the video games expenditure credit.

Clause 7 requires companies to share additional information when claiming relief, and gives His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs additional powers to recover overpayments of relief.

Clauses 4 to 6 are expected to impact approximately 1,200 companies, including orchestras, theatres, museums and galleries, and clause 7 is expected to impact about 3,000 businesses claiming the creative tax reliefs.

Nigel Huddleston

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You just couldn’t resist, could you?

Nigel Huddleston

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Thank you. I do not think anybody in this room or any Members doubt the importance of the creative industries sector. It is an absolute success story for the UK, a huge export earner and something that we can all be proud of. During the pandemic, the sector was among the hardest hit, so we provided more than £1 billion in culture recovery fund money to make sure it was able to survive and do what it does best post pandemic, which it has done incredibly well. I will endeavour to answer the points raised by colleagues in that context.

One area of relative weakness when recovering from the pandemic while other sectors boomed was British children’s content, which declined. That is the rationale for the special difference and the incremental rates specifically for the children’s sector—they need a little more help to recover and boom. We have a great record of children’s TV content, and we want that to be the case again. I can assure the hon. Member for Ealing North that pantomimes will continue to qualify for theatre tax relief—[Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!]—as the main purpose of a pantomime audience is to observe the performance. He raised the point about observance versus participation, where there is some difference in eligibility. Of course, some level of audience participation is normally the case in pantomimes, but it is still predominantly observing, so they will be eligible and not disqualified for production.

On the further points raised by the hon. Gentleman and others about the guidance that will be provided, HMRC is currently working on that and further information will be provided in due course. I have also written to several entities, many of whom participated in the consultation. I should thank all those who participated in the 12-week consultation, which was extensive. We listened carefully and have made many changes. I think we have addressed the vast majority of the issues that were raised during the consultation. Further guidance is needed and will be provided. We are aware of the points that the hon. Gentleman raised.

On his comments about chopping and changing, tax legislation should never remain static because the nature of the economy and the world changes all the time. It is therefore always appropriate to change relevant tax legislation. Signalling and giving stability and assurance to the industry is important. I think that in these measures the support for the creative industries cannot be in any doubt. The creative industries have expressed extreme gratitude for the Government’s support, which has enabled the industries to be incredibly successful over many years. The reason that many film and TV productions are now located in the UK is precisely because of the tax breaks and incentives that have been provided over the last few years.

Several points were raised about orchestras. I explained on Second Reading the rationale behind why we are making changes in relation to EEA expenditure and the UK. There are World Trade Organisation requirements, but I do not think we should underestimate the importance of what is there. In many cases some expenditures that were not previously included will now be able to be included precisely because some of the remit was limited to EEA.

At present, all orchestral productions and touring theatre productions and museums and galleries exhibitions are eligible for a credit rate of 50%. The 50% rate of relief was introduced to support our cultural sectors through the aftermath of the pandemic. At the spring Budget, it was extended for two years in recognition of the temporary but ongoing difficult circumstances that those sectors in particular face. The rate will taper to 35% on 1 April 2025 and return to 25% on 1 April 2026, so support for the sectors is still considerable. As I said, further guidance will be provided, and I will take all the comments that have been made today on board.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 3 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 2 agreed to.

Clause 4 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 3 agreed to.

Clause 5 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 4 agreed to.

Clause 6 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 5 agreed to.

Clause 7 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 6 agreed to.

Clause 8

Miscellaneous amendments relating to REITs

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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Clause 8 and schedule 7 make changes to enhance the tax rules for real estate investment trusts, or REITs; to alleviate certain constraints and administrative burdens; and to ensure that the rules keep pace with commercial practice.

The Government launched a review of UK investment funds, taxation and regulatory rules at Budget 2020 with the aim of making the UK a more attractive location to set up, manage and administer funds. We have already made great progress, introducing the qualifying asset holding company and long-term asset fund regimes, which will help support a wide range of more efficient investments better suited to investors’ needs and to provide jobs across the UK.

The changes we are introducing for REITs regimes today in the clause and schedule 7 build further on that work. REITs are a specific form of property investment company. The tax rules have the effect of allowing investors to be taxed on their share of a REIT’s income and gains in a way that is broadly the same as if they had invested directly in property. The regime has proven popular since its introduction in 2006, with approximately 140 REITs currently established in the UK.

The Government have already brought forward several reforms to the REIT rules under the Finance Act 2022 and the Finance (No. 2) Act 2023. Following further engagement with industry, this clause and schedule 7 bring forward a third and final tranche of targeted changes to complete the work of better meeting the needs of investors while ensuring that the right tax is paid.

The changes made by clause 8 and schedule 7 include updates to the conditions that ensure a REIT is always widely owned, and that the UK retains effective taxing rights over the rental income distributed by REITs to foreign investors. Those are in addition to a number of further technical and clarificatory changes. The Government are also taking the opportunity to make further changes to related tax rules, including a technical correction to the corporate interest restriction as it applies to REITs, and a consequential change in the related non-resident capital gains rules for collective investment vehicles.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. He will be aware that, while HMRC is operationally independent, I have oversight as part of my ministerial role. We have regular conversations about resources and capabilities, and I am more than confident about its capabilities in this and indeed many other areas. We always keep resources under review.

These changes are reasonable, and I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s support; indeed, they have wide support from industries. They will improve the operation of the REITs rules, aligning them with current commercial practices and enhancing the regime’s competitiveness. I therefore commend clause 8 and schedule 7 to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 8 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 7 agreed to.

Clause 9

Managers of ships

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Gareth Davies)

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It is a great pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Paisley.

Clause 9 and schedule 8 enable qualifying companies that manage ships to elect into the tonnage tax regime. Clause 10 increases the capital allowance limit on the provision of vessels to operators in the tonnage tax regime for ship lessors. Tonnage tax is a regime aimed at boosting the United Kingdom’s competitiveness in the international shipping industry. At autumn Budget 2021, the Government announced the first substantive reforms of tonnage tax since 2005. These included removing the EU/EEA flagging requirement, for example.

Following those reforms, the Government announced at this year’s spring Budget that we would permit third-party ship management under the tonnage tax regime, with the aim of attracting more shipping companies to the United Kingdom, and that we would also raise the capital allowance limit for lessors of ships into tonnage tax, broadly in line with inflation and the cost of ships. These changes follow a review into whether to include ship management and the appropriateness of the existing capital allowance limit.

Until now, only companies that owned or chartered their ships could participate in the regime. The existing tonnage tax rules will in general apply to ship managers as they do to operators, but with certain exceptions. Most notably, operators must fulfil a training requirement for ships’ officers, which will not apply to third-party managers. They will be able to claim tonnage tax profits only on ships for which the operator has fulfilled the training obligation. Clause 10 will raise the overall limit on capital allowances that a lessor can claim from £80 million to £200 million—the first rise since the limits were introduced in 2000. The increase recognises general price movements and changes in vessel design and costs, ensuring that the UK tonnage tax continues to be internationally competitive. I therefore commend clauses 9 and 10 and schedule 8 to the Committee.

Gareth Davies

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Let me take the opportunity to congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his fifth Finance Bill. He is looking good on it, and I hope this one goes as badly for him as the others. It is always a genuine pleasure to be opposite the hon. Gentleman and I am grateful to the Opposition for not opposing clauses 9 and 10.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 9 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 8 agreed to.

Clause 10 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 11

Extension of EIS relief and VCT relief to shares issued before 6 April 2035

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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Clause 11 extends the sunset clause for the enterprise investment scheme and the venture capital trust scheme to April 2035. The schemes will continue to support thousands of early-stage, innovative companies each year and ensure that they have access to the investment they need to develop and grow.

The enterprise investment scheme and venture capital trust scheme provide a range of generous tax reliefs to investors to encourage investment into higher risk, early-stage companies, which face the biggest challenges in accessing finance. This will encourage entrepreneurship in the future. The schemes are world-leading in terms of their generosity, with more than £3.4 billion of funds raised across the two schemes in the tax year 2021-22 alone. This extension will ensure that the schemes continue to support the growth of early-stage companies.

Nigel Huddleston

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I am afraid that I respectfully disagree with the hon. Lady. We see clearly from feedback from the industry that it very much welcomes the changes. Actually, it is quite transparent throughout the Bill that we are backing business right across the UK. Richard Stone, chief executive of the Association of Investment Companies, has said:

“It’s excellent news that the Chancellor has committed to extending VCTs’ sunset clause…The extension…will help provide certainty to investors and businesses and enable VCTs to continue supporting UK growth companies.”

The British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association has said:

“It is hugely positive that the Chancellor has EXTENDED THE EIS AND VCT SCHEMES until 2035.”

The changes were not subject to a formal consultation, but were part of engagement with industry that Treasury officials and Ministers conduct on an ongoing basis. We are listening to business all the time; we make appropriate changes all the time, and the measures in clause 11 prove exactly that point. The hon. Lady is trying to score political points, but in highlighting some of the scare tactics, she is proving exactly why business can be confident in this Government, and should be somewhat fearful of the Opposition.

The clause will ensure that the EIS and VCT schemes continue to support thousands of early-stage companies each year in raising the funding that they need to succeed. I therefore urge that the clause stand part of the Bill.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 11 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 12

Relief for payments of compensation by government etc to companies

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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I should probably explain to anybody wondering about the musical chairs that we have two Ministers here, because the clauses are split across ministerial responsibilities. I explain that for Members and anybody watching—the millions who, I am sure, are watching on television across the world.

Clause 12 is on a very important and newsworthy point, but it also shows that the matter that it deals with has received considerable attention for some time: it makes changes to ensure that all claimants of compensation from a range of Post Office schemes related to the Horizon IT scandal are treated similarly. It will align the tax treatment to ensure that claimants who chose to set themselves up as companies obtain tax relief comparable to that available for claimants set up as individuals.

Following the Horizon IT scandal, a number of schemes were set up to provide compensation to the individuals affected, and although most sub-postmasters are individuals, some set themselves up as corporate entities. Individuals have been exempted from paying income tax, national insurance contributions and capital gains tax on compensation that they received under the schemes that have been announced, which are being legislated for separately, but the Government are determined that postmasters affected by the Horizon IT scandal will receive the compensation that they deserve, regardless of how they arrange their business structure. The clause therefore exempts from corporation tax compensation payments made under the Post Office historical shortfall scheme, the group litigation order schemes, the suspension remuneration review and the Post Office process review scheme. The legislation will align the taxation of onward payments of compensation with that of compensation to individual recipients.

The clause will impact the relatively small proportion of compensation recipients who are structured as corporate entities, but to those impacted it is extremely meaningful. The approach taken in the legislation is consistent with tax principles and precedents, as well as the tax treatment of separate Post Office compensation schemes set up in response to the Horizon IT scandal.

Nigel Huddleston

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We will have that debate another day.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank Opposition Members for their comments. There is very clear alignment on this point. Clause 12 means that postmasters affected by the Horizon IT scandal receive the compensation that they deserve, regardless of how they arrange their business affairs. I should also make it clear that there is additional support for impacted individuals; HMRC has also set up a dedicated extra support team and phone helpline to provide postmasters and sub-postmasters with additional support. I commend the clause to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 12 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 13

Enterprise management incentives: time limits

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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We are proceeding at pace. Clause 13 amends the enterprise management incentives, or EMI, provisions to improve the process for granting EMI options by extending the time that participating companies have to notify HMRC of a grant. EMI helps small and medium enterprises to compete with larger firms to attract and retain key talent by bolstering the attractiveness of the share-based remuneration that they can offer to their employees. In the 2021 Budget, the Government launched a call for evidence on the performance of EMI and whether it should be expanded. In the 2022 spring statement, the Government concluded that EMI remains effective and is appropriately targeted. However, the Government listened to those who said that the administrative requirements of the EMI scheme could be improved, particularly the process of granting options. The change we are making will help to address those concerns by making it even easier for companies to use EMI, as requested by industry.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank the hon. Lady again for her contribution and support. There are many relatively small and highly technical changes that we are making through the Bill, and this is one of them. On paper, it can look somewhat technical and confusing, but it is really meaningful, and I appreciate the fact that the hon. Lady and Opposition Members acknowledge that. The clause supports small and medium-sized businesses in recruiting and retaining key talent by simplifying the process to grant EMI options. For the reasons we have outlined, I urge that the clause stand part of the Bill.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 13 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 14

Provision in connection with abolition of the lifetime allowance charge

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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Clause 14 and schedule 9 make changes to complete the abolition of the pensions lifetime allowance. By completing the work to remove the lifetime allowance charge, the Government will deliver the policy objective of incentivising highly skilled individuals to remain in the labour market or return to the workforce to build up their retirement savings, helping to grow the economy and to protect the quality of our vital public services. The Government have listened to stakeholders from across the public and private sectors, including senior NHS clinicians, air traffic controllers and senior police officers, who have said that pensions tax limits can and, indeed, do influence the timing of retirement and act as a barrier to remaining in or returning to the workforce.

The lifetime allowance limits the total amount of tax-relieved pension savings that an individual can have. It is set at £1,073,100, but individuals can contribute to their pensions over this limit. However, when members previously accessed pension benefits above the limit, they were subject to a tax charge called the lifetime allowance charge. At spring Budget 2023, the Chancellor announced that he would remove the lifetime allowance charge from 6 April 2023. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that around 15,000 individuals will remain in the labour market as a result, and many of them will be highly skilled individuals, including senior doctors in the NHS and many other public sector workers. The British Medical Association says that scrapping the lifetime allowance will be potentially transformative for the NHS.

The Chancellor also announced at spring Budget that the lifetime allowance would be removed from tax legislation entirely in a future Finance Bill. Clause 14 will deliver the necessary technical changes to entirely abolish the lifetime allowance from tax legislation. It clarifies the tax treatment of lump sums—that is where some pensions benefits are taken as a cash lump sum—paid from registered UK pension schemes. The new tax treatment ensures that lump sums do not, regardless of their size, become entirely tax-free. It will also clarify the tax treatment of transfers to overseas pension schemes and benefits paid from them. Finally, the clause sets out the arrangements for transitioning to the new pensions tax regime and reporting requirements under the new regime.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank hon. Members for their comments. We seem to have had a bit of a U-turn from some Opposition Members and some political parties. There was considerable support for these measures across multiple sectors. These measures will benefit swathes of the public sector. I have already given quotes and there are plenty more from swathes of the medical and health service industry. The Royal College of Surgeons, for example, found that 68% of consultant surgeons were considering early retirement because of the old pensions rules. I do not know what more evidence hon. Members need to be convinced that this is a proper and appropriate move.

Nigel Huddleston

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The hon. Member is being rather selective. Swathes of the public sector will benefit: headteachers, police chiefs, clinicians, senior armed forces personnel, air traffic controllers, prison governors, senior government scientists, government-employed vets and so on. It is a point of principle that the tax system does not generally distinguish between occupations. To the point of the hon. Gentleman and others about timeliness, this is an issue that we needed to deal with immediately—not in three or five years’ time. There was an appropriate measure, and we took it.

It goes without saying that some people have benefited from similar schemes in the past. The Leader of the Opposition had a unique deal from his time as Director of Public Prosecutions, which allowed him to avoid tax on his savings. It is only appropriate that, in order to make sure that we retain people in the workforce and encourage people to come back to the workforce, we make these changes and make them in a timely manner. That is the broader point of the policy area, as opposed to the specifics of these changes. They have been subject to considerable consultation.

The hon. Member for Ealing North mentioned that there are about 100 pages of legislation. That is true, but let us be very clear: this is a clear and transparent simplification that has been welcomed by large swathes of the public sector. The vast majority of the 100 pages of legislation he talked about remove references and concepts associated with the lifetime allowance. When we make changes, we need to remove references, and that was the bulk of the work.

As I said, this has been the result of extensive consultation. The Government have been consistently clear since the spring Budget of 2023 that the abolition of the lifetime allowance will be effective from April 2024. We have set out the timelines very clearly. We continued to work closely with industry, and HMRC will support the implementation of these changes. As I said, we have listened to stakeholder feedback and confirmed that we would not proceed with the previously proposed changes, for example to pension commencement lump sums and small lump sums. Once the changes have been made, they represent a significant saving for pensions.

Unlike the lifetime allowance excess lump sum, which is charged at 55%, the pension commencement excess lump sum is charged at the member’s marginal rate. So the pension commencement excess lump sum is only paid in connection with the commencement of a pension. The pension commencement excess lump sum allows individuals entitled to receive more of their pension on commencement as a lump sum than is provided for by the standard pension commencement lump sum. As I said, overall, these changes are welcomed and are a simplification. I therefore commend the clause to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 14 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 9 agreed to.

Clause 15

MPs’ pension scheme etc: rectification of discrimination

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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Clause 15 makes changes in relation to the occupational pensions of Members of Parliament, Members of the Welsh Senedd and Members of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland. It will ensure that these groups receive tax treatment comparable to the wider public sector when their pension schemes remedy age-related unfairness in past pension changes.

In 2015, the Government reformed public service pensions and offered transitional protections to those closest to retirement. The Court of Appeal later concluded that the provision of protections for older members but not younger members was discriminatory on the basis of age. The Government therefore introduced legislation to remedy this in 2022. The pension schemes for Members of Parliament, Members of the Welsh Senedd and Members of the Legislative Assembly were similarly reformed between 2015 and 2016, but the court judgement did not apply to them because of the distinct legal underpinnings of the other pension schemes. To ensure fairness, these schemes are voluntarily providing remedies to eliminate any age-related unfairness in line with broader public service pensions.

The remedies provided by the schemes are not retrospective for tax purposes. Therefore, legislative changes are needed to prevent members from incurring adverse tax consequences. The clause will allow the Government to make technical changes in secondary legislation. This will put members of these schemes in the tax position that they would have been in if any age-related unfairness had not occurred.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. Indeed, I believe most of those affected here in Parliament were elected prior to 2015. There has been consultation with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and others on these changes. It is a matter of fairness to make sure this is aligned with the broader public sector.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 15 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 16

Provision relating to the cash basis

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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Clause 16 and schedule 10 make changes to improve the experience of many small businesses when completing income tax returns by extending the eligibility for the cash basis, which is a simplified way for 4.2 million smaller, growing traders to calculate their profits and pay their income tax. The Government recognise the usefulness of full accruals accounts for many businesses, but for many smaller businesses the cash basis acts as a valuable simplification. By measuring money received and paid out and removing complex tax and accounting rules, the cash basis makes it much easier for many businesses to understand how their taxable profits have been calculated, reducing error and the likelihood of an unexpected tax bill. It also ensures that a taxpayer is not taxed on money that they have not actually received yet, helping cash flow and supporting businesses to manage their tax payments.

There are currently only 1.2 million users of the cash basis from the 4.4 million self-employed businesses, which is only a 29% take-up. Many more businesses could stand to benefit from the cash basis, but are prevented from doing so because of existing restrictions on who can use the simplified regime.

The changes made by clause 16 and schedule 10 completely remove limits on the size of businesses able to use the basis, interest reductions, deductions and loss relief available under the cash basis and set the simpler regime as the default option for small businesses. This increases the number of businesses that are able to use the cash basis and removes barriers preventing businesses from using the regime, encouraging more businesses to benefit from its simplicity.

New businesses that choose not to use the simpler cash basis in order to be able to claim relief for any losses available under the accruals basis will now be able to claim loss relief through the cash basis too. That particularly benefits new self-employed businesses, especially those set up by someone with an employment or other source of income.

These changes are expected, using a conservative estimate, to save small businesses a total of about £13 million per year in administrative burdens. Alongside these changes, and directly responding to consultation feedback, HMRC will be prioritising a review of its guidance on the cash basis, aiming to improve the understanding and awareness of this simpler regime.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank the hon. Member for his comments. We should be very clear that the Government are not forcing businesses to use cash accounts. A business can still choose the method of accounting that best suits its circumstances, but the Government encourage businesses to use the simpler cash basis where appropriate. However, we of course recognise that many businesses will still benefit greatly from the advice and information provided by an accountant drawing up full accruals accounts, so the Government have set the cash basis as the default to make it easier for businesses to use the simpler regime. All a business will have to do to opt out of that is tick a box on their tax return, so it is fairly simple and straightforward in terms of choice.

On guidance, feedback during the consultation suggested improvements to HMRC and gov.uk guidance that would help many small businesses understand the cash basis. We have listened and will be prioritising a review. We will update the guidance for the cash basis as part of the HMRC small business guidance review, which we announced at spring Budget 2023. That review will be completed by April 2025. The Government recognise the need to update that guidance, particularly for businesses that do not have the support of an accountant or tax advisers, and HMRC is also looking at providing further support through specific communications about the tax bases.

As I said, we understand—and HMRC understands—that many businesses have been using the cash basis anyway, without electing to do so, and these changes will formalise much of that behaviour and make it easier for taxpayers to use the cash basis without the administrative burden of making an election to do so.

Because of that tax simplification, particularly for small businesses, we believe that these measures—clearly simplifying the tax system—will help boost productivity, increase business confidence and reduce the amount of time and money businesses spend on tax administration. The clauses and schedules support our commitment of simplification by making it easier for small businesses to use the cash basis and by expanding the number of businesses that are able to use it. I therefore commend these measures to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 16 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 10 agreed to.

Clause 17

PAYE regulations: special types of payer or payee

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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Clause 17 makes changes to address a potential overcollection of tax and national insurance contributions by HMRC to resolve an unfairness in the tax system. This will allow HMRC to set off taxes already paid by the worker and their intermediary against the pay-as-you-earn liability of another organisation in the supply chain, preventing double taxation and ensuring that the cost of the liability is shared more fairly between the parties involved.

The off-payroll working rules, commonly known as IR35, were first introduced in 2000. They set out that, where an individual is working like an employee, they should pay tax like an employee, regardless of whether they are working through their own intermediary. Under the current rules, where an organisation is found by HMRC to have incorrectly determined an off-payroll worker as self-employed when they should have been employed, it becomes liable for taxes and national insurance contributions that should have been deducted, at source, from the fee paid to the worker. Current legislation does not allow HMRC to rectify that by setting off taxes already paid by the worker and their intermediary against the PAYE liability of the organisation.

The changes made by clause 17 will give HMRC the power to set off taxes already paid by a worker and their intermediary against the subsequent PAYE liability of the organisation. That aims to address the potential overcollection of tax and national insurance contributions in cases of non-compliance with the off-payroll working rules. It also ensures that the cost of the liability is shared more fairly between the deemed employer and the worker.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank hon. Members for their comments. As I say, the measures are separate from the broader debate on IR35, which we have all heard about as constituency MPs. The legislation is complex, and it is right that we work through these complex issues thoroughly to address them properly. HMRC has undertaken a significant amount of informal consultation with key stakeholders to explore a legislative solution to resolve this issue. At the end of the day, we are introducing legislation to address concerns about the double taxation that some people face, which is blatantly unfair.

The Government are grateful for the constructive feedback we have had, which has resulted in the measures being included in the Bill. It is a positive outcome that addresses concerns raised by businesses and hon. Members that HMRC would collect too much tax, and that there are errors in complying with the off-payroll working rules. We have discovered that, so it is right that we have taken action. I therefore urge that the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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My understanding is that the measures will not be retrospective, but I will write to the hon. Member for Glasgow North West or explain more in a later response if I am incorrect.

Nigel Huddleston

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Clause 18 makes changes to ensure that the statutory reference under which the Scottish Government’s carer’s allowance supplement payments are made is corrected in income tax legislation, with retrospective effect. That will provide certainty to taxpayers.

When Parliament enacted section 12 of the Finance Act 2019, it intended to refer to the carer’s allowance supplement as taxable social security income, payable under section 81 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. Instead, the listing in the Finance Act for the carer’s allowance supplement refers to sections 24 and 28 of the Act. That is a technical drafting error in the legislation, which the amendment seeks to correct. The changes made by clause 18 retrospectively correct a drafting error in the legislation and do not affect the substance of the legislation. There will not be any impact on payments that have already been made or payments going forward. Nobody, therefore, will be financially impacted positively or negatively by these very specific changes.

Nigel Huddleston

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The hon. Lady is right to highlight that—it is the very question that I asked. Nobody will be financially impacted by the change, which applies to a drafting error that has not been executed. It is a clarification purely and specifically on the legislation, as opposed to having any real-world impact on the finances. It is very important to get that point across, because we do not want anybody to be worried about this change. There is no change in circumstances or amounts. Clause 18 provides clarity on the correct statutory reference under which the Scottish Government’s carer’s allowance supplement payments are made.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 18 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 19

Growth market exemption: qualifying UK multilateral trading facilities etc

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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Clause 19 widens access to the growth market exemption—a relief from stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax—so that it better supports SMEs and growth businesses to raise capital. It does that by lowering transaction costs, which will support our economy by boosting growth in innovative sectors. The relief will now be available to smaller, innovative growth markets, instead of being restricted to markets operated by large stock exchanges.

The growth market exemption was introduced in 2014 with the aim of boosting investor participation in equity growth markets and improving the conditions for growing companies to raise equity financing. Initially, three UK markets and one Irish market were able to access the exemption. Since then, another 10 markets across the EU and European economic area have applied for and gained access to the exemption, meaning that UK SMEs have greater access to capital.

Previously, in order to be recognised by HMRC as a qualifying growth market, markets that are referred to as “multilateral trading facilities” had to be operated by a “recognised stock exchange” such as the London or Aquis stock exchanges. Once that condition was met, markets also had to meet one of two additional conditions: either the majority of companies on the market had to have a market capitalisation of less than £170 million, or the market’s rules of admission had to require companies to demonstrate at least 20% compounded annual revenue or employment growth over the three years preceding their admission.

However, the requirements have not been updated since the exemption’s introduction in 2014, despite considerable developments in how markets are regulated. Investment firms that are not of the same size and scale as the large stock exchanges can run multilateral trading facilities that are recognised as small and medium-sized enterprise growth markets by the Financial Conduct Authority but, as a result of the current stamp taxes on shares legislation, are barred from accessing the growth market exemption.

The changes made by clause 19 allow multilateral trading facilities that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and run by these smaller investment firms to access the growth market exemption, provided that they meet one of the two additional requirements. That will ensure fairness in the current application of the exemption and increased competition in the market, leading to greater choice for SMEs that are seeking to access finance. That will, in turn, boost growth in UK SMEs.

Clause 19 also updates the market capitalisation condition by increasing the level up to which a majority of companies listed on the exchange can be capitalised from £170 million to £450 million. That change reflects the modern market and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to helping innovative SMEs to grow.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank the hon. Lady for her comments and questions. Any market that meets the requirements will be able to apply to HMRC to take advantage of the exemptions. The UK’s financial service industry is dynamic and innovative, so it is important that future markets are not restricted by legislation that has not been updated in almost a decade. It is also a question of fairness: it is right that smaller, innovative markets are not barred from the exemptions, for the reasons that she and I outlined. At the moment, there is one market that is likely to benefit—Archax, a digital asset market—but the point of the changes is that other markets could benefit in future and, because of the dynamism in such markets, we need to plan ahead. We cannot anticipate what may come up, so we do not want to restrict options for future growth.

Clause 19 updates the scope of the growth market exemption, reflecting changes that have taken place since its introduction back in 2014. The clause allows the exemption to meet its initial aims more effectively by ensuring fairness in its application, increasing competition, boosting liquidity and facilitating growth. I therefore commend the clause to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 19 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 20

Capital-raising arrangements etc

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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Clause 20 and schedule 11 make changes to ensure continuity in stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax treatment following changes made by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 that took effect at the end of 2023.

Stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax are charged on transfers of securities in UK companies, but not generally on the issue of new securities. The main rate for both taxes is 0.5%. A 1.5% higher rate was applied on the issue or transfer of UK securities into overseas clearance services or depositary receipt systems, to reflect the fact that subsequent transfers of those shares would not be subject to stamp duty or stamp duty reserve tax while the securities remained in those overseas systems and services. A 1.5% higher rate charge was also applied on issues and transfers of bearer instruments. A bearer instrument is a document that constitutes the rights of the holder of that instrument to the securities that the document represents.

Following EU and UK court decisions in 2009 and 2012, HMRC accepted that the 1.5% charge on certain transactions was incompatible with the EU capital duties directive. The incompatible transactions were the issue of securities into depositary receipt systems and clearance services, and certain related transfers known as transfers integral to capital raising. HMRC also recognised that the charge on the issue of bearer instruments was incompatible with the capital duties directive. UK legislation was not amended, because at the time taxpayers could rely on the direct effect of EU law. However, now that the changes in the retained EU law Act have taken effect, that is no longer the case, and UK legislation must therefore be amended to prevent the 1.5% charge from being reintroduced for those transactions.

Clause 20 and schedule 11 will maintain the current position by removing the 1.5% charge in domestic legislation on the issue of UK securities into overseas depositary receipt systems and clearance services, and on certain transfers related to capital raising. They will also remove the 1.5% charge on issues of bearer instruments. The changes provide legislative certainty to businesses that there will be no charge on those transactions going forward.

Nigel Huddleston

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I will not stray into a broader debate; we will have that, I am sure, on Third Reading or at another point. I made my points on the broader economy earlier, but I gently request that the Opposition stop talking the UK economy and UK businesses down. By doing so, they are talking down the workers and companies in their own constituencies.

This measure is designed to ensure the competitiveness of the UK’s code in relation to financial services, by providing certainty that unwelcome frictions will not be reintroduced for UK companies that wish to operate globally. I commend the clause and the schedule to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 20 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 11 agreed to.

Clause 22

Rates of tobacco products duty

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Gareth Davies

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The clause implements changes announced in the 2023 autumn statement concerning tobacco duty rates. The duty charged on all tobacco products will rise in line with the tobacco duty escalator, with an additional increase for hand-rolling tobacco to reduce the gap with cigarettes.

Smoking rates in the UK are falling, but they are still too high: around 13% of adults are now smokers. Smoking remains the biggest cause of preventable illness and premature deaths in the United Kingdom, killing around 100,000 people a year and up to two thirds of all long-term users.

We are investing in a range of measures to support smokers to quit, including an additional £70 million per year to support local stop smoking services, £15 million per year to fund new national anti-smoking campaigns, and £10 million over two years to provide financial incentives to support all pregnant smokers to quit. In a world first, we are also providing £45 million over two years to roll out the new national “swap to stop” scheme, supporting 1 million smokers to swap cigarettes for vapes. Our policy of maintaining high duty rates for tobacco products will support the Government’s plans to reduce smoking to improve public health.

In the autumn statement, the Chancellor announced that the Government will increase tobacco duty in line with the escalator. The clause therefore specifies that the duty charged on all tobacco products will rise by 2% above retail prices index inflation. In addition, duty on hand-rolling tobacco will increase by 12% above RPI inflation. These new tobacco duty rates will be treated as having taken effect from 6 pm on the day they were announced, which was 22 November 2023.

Recognising the potential interactions between tobacco duty rates and the illicit market, the Government introduced tougher sanctions in July 2023, including penalties of up to £10,000 for any businesses or individuals who are caught selling illicit tobacco products. HMRC and Border Force will shortly be publishing an updated strategy to tackle illicit tobacco, with the aim of making further progress in reducing the size of the illicit market, tackling organised crime and reducing demand for illicit tobacco products.

The clause will continue our tried and tested policy of using high duty rates on tobacco products to make tobacco less affordable. It will help continue the reduction in smoking prevalence, supporting our Smokefree 2030 ambition, and reduce the burden placed by smoking on our public services.

Gareth Davies

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I am grateful to the Opposition for their position on the clause. It is a mutual endeavour to ensure that we reduce smoking rates. We should take pride in this country that, over the last couple of decades, both parties, when in government, have overseen a reduction in smoking prevalence to some 13%.

On the specific question about international comparisons, I do not have the information available, but I am very happy to write to the hon. Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 22 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 23

Rates of vehicle excise duty

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Gareth Davies

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Clause 23 makes changes to uprate vehicle excise duty for cars, vans and motorcycles in line with the retail prices index from 1 April 2024. Vehicle excise duty is paid on vehicle ownership, and rates chargeable are dependent on various factors, including vehicle type, date of first registration and carbon emissions data. The Government have uprated vehicle excise duty for cars, vans and motorcycles in line with RPI every year since 2010, which means that rates have remained unchanged in real terms during that time.

The standard rate of VED for cars registered since 1 April 2017 will increase by £10. The rates for vans will increase by no more than £20, and motorcyclists will see an increase of no more than £6. The changes outlined will maintain revenue sustainability by ensuring that motorists continue to make a fair contribution to our public finances.

Gareth Davies

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I am grateful to the Opposition for their position and understanding.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 23 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 24

Rates of air passenger duty

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Gareth Davies

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The clause sets the rates for air passenger duty for 2024-25. The rates were announced at the spring Budget and will take effect from April this year. The Government are uprating air passenger duty in line with forecast RPI rounded to the nearest pound. That will help to ensure that air passenger duty receipts are maintained in real terms and that airlines continue to make a fair contribution to our public finances. As is standard practice, the Government gave the industry more than 12 months’ notice.

The short-haul international rates will remain frozen for 2024-25, benefiting over 70% of passengers. Following the 50% cut in air passenger duty for domestic flights in 2023-24, the rate for those flying in economy class will increase by just 50p to £7. The long-haul and ultra-long-haul economy rates will increase by £1. The long-haul and ultra-long-haul rates for premium economy, business class and private jet passengers will also increase. Overall, this means that air passenger duty rates will be frozen in real terms. I commend the clause to the Committee.

Gareth Davies

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I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I remember very well the exchange at the last fiscal event, and I note that since then, the leader of the Labour party has developed a new passion for flying in private jets courtesy of foreign Governments.

Let me try to address the hon. Gentleman’s concerns and explain what is going on here. The industry is notified of air passenger duty 12 months in advance. It is uprated by a forecast of RPI and those rates are then rounded to the nearest pound. He asked a very reasonable question about how that shakes out in terms of the actual rates. It largely depends on how they are rounded to the nearest pound; the actual rate is determined by whether the figure is rounded down or up. He pointed out particular types of aircraft and particular bands. In the instances that he described, the rates have been rounded down; others have been rounded up, which is why other rates have gone up. He is right that helicopters are not part of the APD regime, but they do incur fuel duty, and buying a helicopter incurs VAT.

Gareth Davies

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The Bill implements the rate changes that were announced at the spring Budget last year, based on a forecast RPI, as I have described, but the principle that the hon. Lady talks about is absolutely right. We have in this country an established principle that the further someone flies, the more they pay. Long-haul flights are subject to a greater rate than short-haul flights, as are private jet flights, for which the rate is increased.

Gareth Davies

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The rate on private jets is significantly more than any commercial flight passenger will pay.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 24 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 26

Vehicle excise duty exemption for foreign vehicles

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Gareth Davies

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Clause 26 enables regulations to be made exempting foreign vehicles, or foreign vehicles that meet certain conditions, from vehicle excise duty. In the first instance, the power will be exercised to provide for a three-year exemption in respect of Ukrainian plated and registered vehicles belonging to individuals granted visas under the various visa schemes introduced in relation to the conflict in Ukraine.

As of 27 November, around 193,900 Ukrainians had entered the United Kingdom since the beginning of Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Government understand that a significant number have brought vehicles with Ukrainian number plates with them. Gov.uk guidance states that usually such vehicles must be registered and taxed with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency if the keeper becomes resident or stays longer than six months. However, in advance of making regulations, the Department for Transport has already announced the exemption from VED for individuals in the UK under the family, sponsor and extension Ukrainian visa schemes driving vehicles with Ukrainian number plates.

The clause will ensure that individuals fleeing war in Ukraine who have not yet registered their vehicles in the UK do not face costs and administrative burdens associated with vehicle taxation and registration while they are temporarily in the United Kingdom. I commend the clause to the Committee.

Gareth Davies

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Let me attempt to respond to hon. Members’ comments. First, we should be very proud that our country has welcomed over 193,000 Ukrainians fleeing some of the most horrific circumstances imaginable. I completely agree with the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey that we should not let the issue off the agenda or out of our minds. Just last week, the Prime Minister announced additional funding for the Ukrainian Government and people. We should be proud of that.

On clause 26, it is right that we make the experience for Ukrainian people in the United Kingdom as simple as possible. I understand that colleagues would like this measure to have been implemented more quickly, but there are a number of administrative complexities that come with it. That is one of the reasons why the 150 people out of the 193,000 people who have already registered their vehicle cannot be included in this measure, but as I have said, we are providing support in other ways. On that basis, I commend the clause to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 26 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Ordered, That further consideration be now adjourned. —(Robert Largan.)

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Gareth Davies)

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It is great to see you back in the Chair, Mr Paisley, and a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. The clause increases the lower and standard rates of landfill tax, from 1 April 2024, in line with the retail prices index as forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility at the time of the spring Budget 2023. Landfill tax is charged on material disposed of at landfill sites or unauthorised waste sites in England and Northern Ireland. The objective of the tax is to divert waste away from landfill, and support investment in more circular waste management options, such as recycling, composting and recovery.

Since 2000, landfill tax has contributed to a 90% decrease in local authority waste to landfill in England. Increasing the lower and standard rates of landfill tax by RPI in recent years has helped maintain a strong price incentive to divert waste away from landfill. The clause will increase the lower rate of landfill tax from £3.25 per tonne to £3.30 per tonne. It will increase the standard rate of landfill tax from £102.10 per tonne to £103.70 per tonne.

In conclusion, the clause increases landfill tax in line with RPI from 1 April 2024, to maintain a strong price incentive for diverting waste from landfill. I hope that it can stand part of the Bill.

Gareth Davies

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I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that. I recall that exchange, and he is right to raise the issue of tax gap. Clearly, we all agree that we need it to be lower, and I assure him that at HMRC, every effort is being made to tackle the tax gap. I can update him; in 2021-22, the tax gap was 18.4%. As I say, HMRC is committed to continuing to tackle the gap, principally through two measures: first, through increased data sharing across Government agencies, and secondly, through the better use of intelligence-led interventions. Those two measures, particularly in 2022-23, recovered £280 million of compliance yield. If there are additional pieces of information and data that I do not have to hand, I am happy to follow up on those in writing.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 28 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 29

Rate of aggregates levy

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Gareth Davies

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The clause increases the rate of aggregates levy from 1 April 2024 in line with the retail price index as forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility when the rate was announced in the 2023 spring Budget. Aggregates levy is a charge on the commercial exploitation of virgin aggregate, which includes rock, sand and gravel. The objective of the aggregates levy is to encourage the use of recycled rather than virgin aggregate in construction. Returning to index-linking the aggregates levy rate following a period of rate freezes will ensure the value of this price incentive does not fall in real terms. The changes made by clause 29 will increase the rate of aggregate from £2 per tonne to £2.03 per tonne.

Gareth Davies

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The hon. Gentleman raises an understandable and legitimate question that many have asked, and I am happy to provide an answer today. As he points out, the aggregates levy was introduced many years ago and, at its introduction, was designed and introduced with the intention of being index-linked to inflation. However, over a number of years, the tax was subject to a specific piece of ongoing litigation; as a result of that litigation, the Government decided over many years that it would be inappropriate to change the tax and revert to index-linking during that litigation period. As that litigation has now concluded, and a review of the aggregates levy has concluded on the back of that, the Government have decided that it is now the appropriate time to increase the tax and return to how it was originally intended: to index it to inflation.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 29 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 30

Rate of plastic packaging tax

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Gareth Davies

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The clause makes changes to increase the rate of the plastic packaging tax from 1 April 2024 in line with the consumer price index. The plastic packaging tax is charged on plastic packaging that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. It was introduced on 1 April 2022, as part of the Government’s resources and waste strategy. The tax provides an economic incentive to use recycled plastic rather than virgin plastic in packaging. It is designed to create greater demand for recycled plastic, which, in turn, will stimulate more investment in the collection and recycling of plastic waste, diverting it away from landfill and incineration. Increasing the rate of the plastic packaging tax in line with CPI will maintain the real-terms value of the price incentive to use recycled plastic in packaging. Clause 30 increases the rate of the plastic packaging tax from £210.82 to £217.85 per tonne from 1 April 2024.

Gareth Davies

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I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman and I am glad that he supports the taxation, which we were pleased to introduce in 2022. He is right to challenge us on the impact of the tax, and we have been clear that we intend to evaluate this when enough years have passed to be able to fully assess the impact. In December 2023, the Government came forward with a plan to evaluate the plastic packaging tax, and that is now published on gov.uk. I am happy to write to him with the provisions of that plan, which will be carried out to 2026.

The hon. Gentleman talked about the chemical recycling and mass balance approach. He should know that we engage very closely and extensively with industry ahead of fiscal events. On that specific point, we recognise that chemical recycling is a legitimate form of reprocessing plastic waste. However, following the constructive engagement with stakeholders that I described, and across the whole plastic value chain, the Government understand that is not currently possible for businesses to use chemically recycled plastic in packaging and claim a relief from the tax due to the way in which the recycled content is calculated. I assure him that we will continue to engage with the industry, and we know that it is a matter of great importance to it. My hope is that that can form part of the plan to evaluate PPT in due course as well.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 30 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 35

Additional information to be contained in returns under TMA 1970 etc

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston)

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Good afternoon, Mr Paisley. Clause 35 makes changes to improve the data collected by HMRC. That will enable HMRC to collect more accurate and timely information, helping to make tax easier to get right and harder to get wrong, and providing better outcomes for taxpayers and improving compliance. Clause 36 introduces a new simplified and fairer system of penalties for the late submission of tax returns and late payments of tax, for those taxpayers who voluntarily join Making Tax Digital for income tax self-assessment from 6 April 2024.

Turning to clause 35 in a bit more detail, the Government’s economic response to the pandemic was only made possible through the powerful use of data to make big policy decisions and deliver Government interventions. HMRC’s information about employers, employees and the self-employed was key to delivering both the furlough scheme and its self-employed equivalent, the self-employed income support scheme. The pandemic also highlighted gaps where a lack of data meant that the Government could not provide support to specific groups. For example, in the initial phases of the self-employed scheme, some self-employed people were excluded because they had only recently started a business and HMRC did not have the data needed to identify them and their potential entitlement to support.

Nigel Huddleston

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I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for those questions and comments. I think he has a good understanding of the purpose behind the changes we are making, particularly in the context of the anxiety that many of our constituents face. We all had correspondence on this during the pandemic, when people were frustrated at not necessarily being able to get some of the support mechanisms for which they believed they were eligible because of that lack of information and data.

The macro point and the purpose behind the changes is well understood, and the hon. Gentleman is right to focus on the micro points. When it comes to the voluntary process, for example, which I will come on to in a moment, the whole point of having it is to learn before we make it mandatory. We expect and anticipate that we will need to learn from this experience, but going through that voluntary step first seems like a good process.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned the administrative burden on businesses as a result of this ask. We have chosen three out of the six because the information should be on hand or readily available already, so what we are endeavouring to do should be relatively straightforward. HMRC has been exploring with stake-holders how best to implement the proposals in a way that minimises burdens on businesses. No one wants to put a disproportionate administrative burden on businesses, but for the reasons that I outlined in the introductory comments, we see an upside to asking for the information. In practical terms, it will help nudging and supporting businesses to ensure that their taxes right. Should we face a situation such as the pandemic again, we will be in a much better position to understand the nature of businesses.

The hon. Member for Ealing North mentioned data and gave a total cost of £45 million for implementation of the measures. For the hours-worked data, the total estimated one-off cost to businesses is about £35 million. In subsequent years, the ongoing cost will and should be negligible. For the dividends data, the total estimated up-front cost is about £9 million; again, that remains consistent for subsequent years. For the start and end dates, there are negligible one-off costs, with total year-on-year costs estimated at about £600,000. Those costs are the current estimates based on the standard modelling approach and the measuring of administrative burden. We will of course keep a close eye on the costs.

I mentioned the variety of purposes and means by which that information could be useful, but the hon. Gentleman also made a point about information sharing, an issue that many stakeholders raised in the process of our updating this policy. I should note the work of the House of Lords Sub-Committee that investigated these issues and asked me similar questions not so long ago. I refer hon. Members to the answers I gave there, as well as further support. I want to provide the assurance, however, that there are strict laws about the sharing of data between Departments.

HMRC’s ability to disclose the information it holds to anyone is restricted by the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005. Only by acting in accordance with the provisions of the Act can HMRC ensure that information is disclosed in a lawful way. Section 18 of the Act provides that HMRC must not disclose HMRC information to anyone unless there is a lawful authority to do so, and that includes other Departments and their agencies, local authorities, the police or any other public authority.

As I said, I am happy to respond further to the hon. Gentleman or to make further comments if I have not answered all the questions. However, I commend the clause to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 35 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 36 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 37

Abbreviations used in the Act

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

Nigel Huddleston

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Finally, clauses 37 and 38 simply set out the Bill’s legal interpretation and short title in the usual manner for such legislation. I commend them to the Committee.

Nigel Huddleston

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It will not surprise you to learn, Mr Paisley, that I respectfully disagree with many of the comments made by the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey. The Government are—[Interruption.] As I said and as always, I disagree respectfully. The Government are fully committed to delivering on our legal obligations to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The net zero strategy and the “Powering Up Britain” publication set out the actions that the Government will take to keep the UK on track for its carbon budgets, and establish the long-term pathway to net zero. The UK has already made good progress, reducing emissions by 48% between 1990 and 2021, faster than any other G7 country.

The autumn statement delivered the cross-economy enabling environment for investment that will be vital to deliver the net zero transition. It did so with measures such as permanent full expensing for plant and machinery investments, accelerating grid connections, and reforming planning. The package provides long-term certainty for industry to invest in decarbonisation and supports firms through the transition.

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero is responsible for upholding duties under the Climate Change Act 2008, but His Majesty’s Treasury and HMRC consider climate change and the environmental implications of relevant tax measures, with a climate assessment published in all relevant tax information and impact notes. HMT and HMRC are exploring options to strengthen the analytical approach to monitoring, evaluating and quantifying the environmental impacts of tax measures.

Given all the work that is under way and the substantive work on these issues that has already taken place, I urge the Committee to reject new clause 1.

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

Nigel Huddleston

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I afraid that we are going to have yet another phase of respectful disagreement with the hon. Gentleman.

New clause 2 would require the Government to report on the likely impact of the measures in the Bill on public finances and the cost of living. Numerous Departments and Government bodies already have mechanisms in place to systematically monitor and evaluate the impact of Government policy on public finances and households across the UK. Those mechanisms are effective and ongoing, making the proposed new clause redundant.

It is the role of the Office for Budget Responsibility to produce official forecasts for the public finances twice a year, usually alongside a fiscal event. Those forecasts are produced independent of Ministers, objectively, transparently and impartially, as set out clearly by law. Furthermore, when considering specific pressures on the cost of living, mechanisms are already in place to assess the impact of Government policies on households’ personal finances. The Office for National Statistics plays a role in providing monthly updates through its “Cost of living latest insights” article, offering comprehensive data and showing trends.

In addition, our commitment extends to long-standing surveys and initiatives, including the family resources survey initiated in 1992; the living costs and food survey, which commenced in 2008; and the annual survey of hours and earnings, which has collected data since 1998. The Department for Work and Pensions also plays a crucial role with the annual publication of the “Households below average income” report, which monitors poverty and inequality trends across the UK, with emphasis on the wellbeing of the most vulnerable members of society.

Since 2010, His Majesty’s Treasury has published an “Impact on households” report at major fiscal events, to scrutinise the distributional impact of Government measures on personal finances across income groups. Distributional analysis published at the autumn statement 2023 shows that the typical household at any income level will see a net benefit in 2023-24 and 2024-25 following Government decisions made from autumn statement 2022 onwards. Low-income households will see the largest benefit as a percentage of income. Furthermore, looking across all tax, welfare and spending decisions made since the spending round 2019, the impact of Government action continues to be progressive, with the poorest households receiving the largest benefit as a percentage of income in 2024-25.

We believe that the mechanisms currently in place are effective in providing the necessary insights into the impact of the measures proposed in the Bill. In the light of those efforts and commitments, I urge the Committee to reject new clause 2.

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

Nigel Huddleston

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I should state at the beginning of my remarks that I completely understand the intent of new clause 3, because the hon. Lady is raising issues that are of great concern to hon. Members right across the House. However, she will not be surprised to hear that, once again, I respectfully disagree with her on the need for these assessments. We believe the proposed new clause is redundant because there are existing mechanisms in place to monitor and evaluate the impact of Government policy on public health inequality and poverty.

Nigel Huddleston

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I shall respond to the hon. Lady on the plethora of analysis and support that goes on for a range of policy areas. We are not lacking in either interest in this area or consideration of impact. As I said, there are numerous Government Departments, bodies and other mechanisms already in place to systematically collect, monitor and evaluate the impact of Government policy across the UK.

The Department of Health and Social Care and its arm’s length bodies are responsible for developing and evaluating policies to help people to live more independent, healthier lives for longer. As part of DHSC, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities works across DHSC, the rest of Government, the healthcare system, local government and industry, to shift focus toward preventing ill health, particularly in places where there are the most significant disparities. DHSC also invests in research and evaluation through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, which delivers robust evidence to inform policy development and implementation, including evaluation of policies and research to fill longer term evidence needs and gaps.

The Treasury carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing protected characteristics, in line with both our legal obligations and our strong commitment to providing fairness. We go beyond our legal requirements by publishing a summary of equality impacts for tax measures within the tax information and impact notes alongside the Finance Bill.

Various parts of Government, including from within the Cabinet Office’s equality hub, promote the Government’s commitment to levelling up opportunity and ensuring fairness for all. The hub includes the Government Equalities Office, the Race Disparity Unit, the Disability Unit, and the Social Mobility Commission, all of which provide valuable input.

As I mentioned in answer to new clause 2, since 2010 the Treasury also publishes an “Impact on households” report at major fiscal events, but I will not repeat the comments I made there. The “Households below average income” report also provides valuable input. For example, in 2021-22, there were 1.7 million fewer people in absolute poverty after household costs than in 2009-10, including 400,000 fewer children, 1 million fewer working-age adults, and 200,000 fewer pensioners. We believe the mechanisms currently in place are effective in providing the necessary insight, so I urge the Committee to reject new clause 3.

Nigel Huddleston

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On a point of order, Mr Paisley. Before you conclude your comments, I think this is an appropriate opportunity for me to make similar comments and thanks to those made by my opposite number. I agree with everything he said. I put on record my thanks to you, Mr Paisley, and your co-Chair, who did not have the opportunity to participate in this Bill; there will be other opportunities in the future.

Of course, I thank the Clerks and all officials who have worked on this Bill across multiple Government Departments, including His Majesty’s Treasury and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, but it goes well beyond that. I thank members of the Committee in this place, and also members of the House of Lords Sub-Committee for their input and work. I also thank all those stakeholders who have provided invaluable input. Some have provided specific input recently in the form of written submissions to this stage of the process, but many have participated over many years in extensive formal and informal consultations. I put on record our deep gratitude and thanks to all those who have taken their responsibilities and interests incredibly seriously, providing great input into this Bill to date.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Nigel Huddleston)

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I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Nigel Huddleston

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The Government’s aim is to grow the economy for the good of everyone, and our tax system is a key part of that. For households, higher taxes mean less financial freedom and less choice in how they spend their money. For businesses, they can mean less growth and investment, and that means fewer jobs for workers. That is why we need to grow our economy to create jobs and give ourselves the financial headroom to reduce taxes and remove the barriers to private sector investment. We must have a tax system that is supportive of business.

At spring Budget 2023, the Chancellor set out his approach for a highly competitive business tax regime. By announcing generous tax incentives combined with a rate of corporation tax that remains the lowest in the G7, the Government ensured that the UK is one of the best places in the world for businesses to grow and invest, but we should not be satisfied with simply being one of the best. This Bill therefore marks our next step in making the UK the best place in the world to do business.

We are taking huge, ambitious steps to make that a reality in the autumn statement and in the Bill. For example, no other major economy has made full expensing permanent. That is a major step in encouraging more investment by giving a huge tax relief to those who invest. Alongside that, we have introduced a generous new regime for research and development carried out by companies. We are now going further to encourage even more investment by introducing new clause 5, which will exempt receipts from new electricity generating projects from the electricity generator levy.

I will address each amendment in turn, looking first at the details of new clause 5. The electricity generator levy was introduced following the energy crisis to ensure that energy companies with extraordinary returns contribute more towards vital public services and support for households. However, we must balance that against ensuring that the UK remains a brilliant place to invest in renewables. The new clause makes changes to the EGL that will exempt receipts from new electricity generating projects from the levy. It will ensure that all generators in scope of the levy will benefit from the exemption if they choose to proceed with investments in new generation capacity and make a substantive decision to go ahead with a project on or after 22 November 2023—the date of the autumn statement. That will help support continued investment in the UK’s renewable generation capacity by removing new investments from the tax and providing businesses with the confidence to make such new investments.

I turn to Government amendments 1 to 3. To ensure that the research and development tax relief clauses in the Bill work as intended, the Government are proposing technical amendments to the R&D clauses. The Bill introduces a new enhanced support for R&D-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises, such as those in our vital life sciences sector. From April 2024, the R&D intensity threshold will be reduced from 40% to 30%.

Amendments 1 and 2 make changes to ensure that R&D-intensive companies get the relief as intended. Amendment 1 removes two situations where a company would appear less R&D-intensive than it actually is. These issues were raised with us by an industry stakeholder, for which I am grateful. To avoid abuse and to protect the scheme for genuinely R&D-intensive companies, the ratio is worked out at a group level. Currently in the legislation, companies within groups that charge each other for services could have costs double counted and therefore reduce their R&D intensity. The amendment will fix that. The Government do not want to exclude companies from relief because of legitimate commercial arrangements that do not affect the underlying true R&D intensity of the business.

On top of providing more support for R&D-intensive companies, the Bill will simplify and improve our R&D reliefs by merging the R&D SMEs scheme with the R&D expenditure credit. To ensure that those clauses work as intended, the Government propose technical amendments to the R&D clauses. Companies and accountants wanted the merged scheme to be implemented on an accountancy period basis as that makes claims simpler and delays the merged scheme for the majority of current R&D expenditure credit claimants. It therefore gives them a bit more time to prepare.

The new rules for contracted-out R&D will ensure that the company making the decision to do the R&D and bearing the risk is the one that gets the relief. However, that means that, as currently drafted, there could be temporary situations when two companies are in a contractual relationship and one moves into the new R&D tax credit system ahead of the other. For a limited period of time, that could result in situations where both parties could claim on the same R&D or neither could claim, as was raised by stakeholders. Amendment 3 ensures that the legislation works as intended. For temporary double claims, the R&D credit will go to the claimant in the old system until both have started new accounting periods. To avoid a temporary gap where no company can claim, the legislation will be amended to ensure that subcontractors can claim where their customer is still in the old system.

Nigel Huddleston

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Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. May I join you, Mr Speaker and the whole House in wishing His Majesty a speedy recovery following the announcement this evening?

I wish to thank right hon. and hon. Members for contributing to this debate. I shall respond to as many of the points as I can, and also talk to the amendments that have been moved. On new clause 1, I agree that we must prevent fraud and ensure that all taxpayers pay their fair share. To help achieve that, the new maximum sentences for the most egregious examples of tax fraud, the new criminal offence on the promoters of tax avoidance, and enhanced director disqualification powers will come into force on Royal Assent of this Bill. That will all help.

At 4.8% of total liabilities, the UK’s tax gap is at the joint lowest rate ever recorded and has remained low and stable. The UK’s tax gap compares favourably with that of our international partners. HMRC has already published performance updates that provide information on its compliance performance every quarter, so we believe that this new clause is not necessary.

New clause 2 is pretty much the same as the new clause 1 rejected in Committee of the whole House. As I have said previously, we believe that the provision is unnecessary, as the information has been published in the tax information and impact notes alongside each policy change. That gives a clear explanation of the policy objective together with details of the implementation costs for both HMRC and businesses.

New clause 3 would require the Government to publish details of sentences given and stop notices issued to tackle evasion and avoidance in the past five years, as well as revenue expected to be generated by measures in this Bill to tackle evasion and avoidance in each of the next five years. However, HMRC publishes information on the number of custodial sentences received for tax compliance offences and the average sentence length in its annual reports and accounts. The 2023-24 annual report and accounts will be published this summer, providing a full overview of HMRC’s performance. The Government also publish a list of tax avoidance schemes subject to a stop notice on gov.uk, with the most recent report published on 7 December. HMRC has issued more than 20 stop notices since issuing the first one in 2022. The Government also published revenue estimates for the next five years of the clauses in this Bill in the tax information and impact notes. Therefore, as the information requested by new clause 3 is publicly available in routine HMRC publications, the publication requested by new clause 3 is unnecessary.

New clause 4 would require the Government to report on the likely impact of the measures in the Bill on public health, inequality and poverty—matters that concern us all and that we discussed in Committee. Existing mechanisms already effectively monitor and assess Government policies in those areas, rendering the amendment redundant. Departments such as the Department of Health and Social Care and its arm’s length bodies diligently evaluate policies to enhance health up and down the country. Through the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, they address health inequalities and provide robust evidence for policy development. Various Government units, such as the Cabinet Office equality hub, contribute to levelling-up opportunities and ensuring fairness. The Government Equalities Office, the Race Disparity Unit, the Disability Unit and the Social Mobility Commission all focus on different equality dimensions to guide and support inclusive policy development across the country. We therefore do not believe that new clause 4 is necessary.

On new clause 6, I agree that it is important to regularly review and evaluate policy, and to be transparent, which my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) also highlighted. His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has published a tax information and impact note setting out the impact of the measure, including the economic impact, and the Office for Budget Responsibility has already conducted and published extensive analysis on the investment and growth impact of full expensing. That is available in its “Economic and fiscal outlook—November 2023”, which therefore negates the need to publish a separate assessment in six months’ time. The impact of permanent full expensing will be monitored through information collected from tax returns, and through regular communication with businesses and representative bodies.

Nigel Huddleston

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We always try to act; I cannot do everything, though. I note the hon. Gentleman’s comments. In a similar vein, my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall) raised the importance more broadly of the tourism, hospitality and leisure sector, and of the creative sector. He is absolutely right. Measures in the Bill and elsewhere will support all those sectors. Of course, business rates relief is vital to the tourism, retail, hospitality and leisure sector. My right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham made a range of comments, some outside of my direct remit. I assure him that I will raise his points, which ranged from bonds to public sector efficiency—a vital area—with colleagues in the Department.

I was somewhat entertained by the comments of the Labour spokesman, the hon. Member for Ealing North, who was effectively asking me to commit to Conservative party policies as enthusiastically as he does, which is quite a turn up for the books. Of course, we welcome Labour’s support for the policies that we have announced, but there is clear blue water between the Labour party and the Conservative party in terms of principles about the size and scale of Government and the level of taxation. We have seen Labour’s flip-flopping over the £28 billion. I am not sure what the policy is today. It was rather rich of him to ask for commitments from me, given the flip-flopping that is so prevalent in every area of Labour policy.

At one point, the Labour party was supportive of Brexit. Now I do not know. Are Labour Members against it? Were they supportive of the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) being Prime Minister, or do they not want him in the party? Are they in favour of nationalisation, or against it? Are they in favour of private sector involvement in the NHS, or against it? In a whole host of policy areas, we have seen persistent, perennial flip-flopping from the Opposition. I literally have goldfish whose commitments I would trust more than those from the Labour Front Bench. On those points, we will have to respectfully agree to disagree.

As I said, new clause 5 and the six amendments that the Government have tabled will help to ensure that the changes in the Bill apply as intended, and deliver a vital policy to protect renewable investment. They will make the tax environment more easily understood by business and protect vital tax revenue used to fund our public services. I therefore urge that they be added to the Bill. The six new clauses tabled by the Opposition seek to get the Government to publish data and information that is already being published through other sources, as I have outlined. I therefore urge the House to reject them.

Question put and agreed to.

New clause 5 accordingly read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

New Clause 6

Assessment of the impact of permanent full expensing

“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within six months of this Act being passed, publish an assessment of the impact of the measures in clause 1 of this Act on—

(a) business investment, and

(b) economic growth.

(2) The review under subsection (1) must—

(a) assess the impact of full expensing being made permanent, and

(b) consider what other policies would support the effectiveness of the measures in clause 1 of this Act.”—(James Murray.)

This new clause would require the Chancellor to publish an assessment of the impact on investment and growth of the measures in this Act to make full expensing permanent, and to consider what other policies could support the effectiveness of permanent full expensing.

Brought up, and read the First time.

Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.

Nigel Huddleston

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I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

This Government are backing British business, supporting employment, and creating a simpler and fairer tax system. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor delivered an autumn statement with the clear intention of strengthening the economy, now and for the future. This Finance Bill, which Members of the House have had the opportunity to scrutinise and debate over the past few months, does exactly that. It takes forward important tax measures to help businesses invest for less; encourages innovation and supports our creative industries by elevating rates and simplifying credits; and improves and simplifies our tax system to ensure it remains fit for purpose.

Mr Deputy Speaker, allow me to remind Members of the Bill’s key aims. Our first aim is to support British industry, so that we can solidify our position as world leaders in key sectors. Making full expensing permanent allows UK businesses to invest for less. We have moved to make the UK’s plant and machinery capital allowances the most generous of any major economy. Permanent full expensing has been called the single most transformational thing we could do for investment, and it was welcomed by more than 200 companies and trade associations.

The Bill also merges two significant Government schemes: the SME scheme and the R&D expenditure scheme. In doing that, we are meeting our aim of simplifying the system while providing greater support to British businesses, so that they can spend less time on administration and more time on innovation. The Bill also introduces greater support for loss-making R&D-intensive SMEs and lowers the intensity threshold required to access that support to 30%, helping around 5,000 extra SMEs. To further support investment in renewable energy, we have introduced a new assets exemption for the electricity generator levy, a measure that will continue to drive growth in both our renewables sector and the wider economy. We also continue to support our world-leading creative industries with tax measures that reform the film, TV and video game tax reliefs, turning them into refundable expenditure credits that are easier for business.

Our second aim is to support employment. We must remove barriers to work and incentives to not work, and most of all, must ensure that hard work and expertise are rewarded. That is why the Bill makes changes to encourage people to stay in work and use their expertise for longer. The Bill will complete the abolition of the lifetime allowance, amending pension tax rules so that employees with valuable, hard-earned expertise are no longer encouraged to reduce their hours or retire early. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that this will retain 15,000 workers annually, keeping many high-skilled employees and experienced individuals in our labour market while ensuring that they receive their rightful benefits for working.

Our third aim is to create a simpler, fairer and more modern tax system—an aim that the Bill also supports. Making full expensing permanent is a huge simplification for larger firms, but we are a nation of millions of small businesses. In the Bill, we are expanding the cash basis—a simplified way for over 4 million smaller and growing traders to calculate their profits and pay their income tax. While we remain focused on reducing the tax burden, we cannot overstate the role of tax in supporting public services, so we must all do our part. Everyone must pay their fair share, which is why the Bill introduces a new criminal offence for those who promote tax avoidance schemes and continue to promote them after receiving a stop notice. Alongside this, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will for the first time be able to bring disqualification action against the directors of companies involved in promoting tax avoidance, including those who control or exercise influence over a company. These are vital steps in ensuring that the system is fair for all, and that those who try to undermine it face the consequences.

I thank right hon. and hon. Members from across the House for their helpful and insightful contributions to the debate on the Bill. I also thank the many stakeholders who have provided their views on the issues raised, the Treasury, HMRC officials and House Clerks who have helped the Bill to get to this point. This Bill backs British business, rewards hard work, nurtures innovation, and supports our leading industries while solidifying long-term economic growth. For those reasons, I commend it to the House.