HM Treasury

It is important that SMEs have access to suitable insurance and the Government is working closely with the sector to understand what more they can do to help businesses both now and in the future.

The commercial decisions taken by insurers are also subject to regulation and legislation. Insurers must treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules. The Equality Act 2010 prohibits firms from discriminating against consumers with most protected characteristics, including sexual orientation.

The Government has made no such assessment in relation to the effect of new bank transfer based payment methods. However, licensed gambling operators are only permitted to use payment methods where they are able to ensure they are compliant with all Gambling Commission licence conditions and requirements, including anti-money laundering and safer gambling measures.

The Government also recognises that the financial services industry plays an important role in helping their customers monitor and manage their gambling spending, including by offering gambling transaction blocks. In recent years there has been considerable voluntary progress in this area by the industry, with almost all the largest UK banks, as well as the larger digital banks, now offering gambling transaction blocks for debit and credit card transactions.

The Government welcomes this progress and continues to work together with industry to identify what more can be done in this area. As such, I will soon be hosting a roundtable with the financial sector to discuss what action has taken place to date on this issue and look at opportunities for additional progress which further support UK consumers. This will include looking at wider payment methods.

HM Revenue and Customs regularly publish statistics on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The latest statistics were published on 3 June 2021 and can be found on GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-3-june-2021.

The statistics include figures for the number of employments on furlough. This differs from the number of employees on furlough, as an individual employed by more than one employer is counted once for each employment from which they have been put on furlough.

The latest statistics report that on 30 April 2021 there were (a) 3.44 million employments on furlough in the UK, (b) 131,900 employments on furlough where the employee was resident in Wales, and (c) 3,400 employments on furlough where the employee was resident in Preseli Pembrokeshire constituency.

These figures are based on the residential address information that HM Revenue and Customs hold for employees.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) aims to support jobs, reduce the risk of permanent business closures (supporting those that had temporarily ceased or reduced trading) and reduce the risk of large losses in incomes, through wage support to furloughed employees.

The number of employees on the CJRS has continued to fall as restrictions have eased. According to provisional data from HMRC, 3.4m employments remained on the CJRS at the end of April from 675,000 employers, down from 4.3m employments at the end of March from almost 765,000 employers. This fall was accounted for by a fall in the number of employments on the CJRS on a full time basis; from 2.9m at the end of March to 2.0m at the end of April.

According to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, vacancies rose by 49,000 on the quarter to stand at 657,000 in the three months to April, marking the eighth consecutive month of quarterly growth. Timelier online job advert data from Adzuna suggest that postings were 27 per cent above February 2020 levels at the end of May. According to early estimates from HMRC’s Real-Time Information (RTI), the number of paid employees increased by 97,000 in April, marking the fifth consecutive month of growth.

Treasury officials are in regular contact with HMRC colleagues. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

HMRC do not classify which assets should be written down at the main or special rate of writing down allowances. Instead, businesses should identify whether an asset they have acquired has a useful economic life (UEL) of more or less than 25 years when new. This UEL test for plant and machinery should be applied on the asset as a whole, rather than individual components; since for tax purposes the asset is depreciated as a single unit.

Treasury officials are in regular contact with HMRC colleagues. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.

HMRC do not classify which assets should be written down at the main or special rate of writing down allowances. Instead, businesses should identify whether an asset they have acquired has a useful economic life (UEL) of more or less than 25 years when new. This UEL test for plant and machinery should be applied on the asset as a whole, rather than individual components; since for tax purposes the asset is depreciated as a single unit.

As of 7 June 2021, nearly 2,000 businesses have been offered grants amounting to £3.1m through the SME Brexit Support Fund.

The Northern Ireland Protocol entails some new administrative processes for traders, notably new digital import declaration requirements and digital safety and security information for goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. Processes are fully digital and eligible to be facilitated by the Trader Support Service (TSS). There are no export or exit declarations needed for goods leaving Great Britain for Northern Ireland.

The TSS is a free, optional service which supports all businesses affected by the Protocol. It can complete declarations on behalf of traders so that they do not need to engage directly with new digital customs systems or processes and in most cases traders will not need their own XI EORI number. Traders can register by going to https://www.gov.uk/guidance/trader-support-service.

As well as the TSS, the Government has provided a range of support for traders affected by the Protocol, including:

• Publishing a suite of new guidance to support Great Britain and Northern Ireland businesses engaging in new processes under the Protocol.
• Creating the Movement Assistance Scheme, which provides support to traders moving agri-food commodities and equines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
• Creating a £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund to support small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) adjust to new customs, rules of origin, and VAT rules.
• Implementing a range of other support schemes, including the General Export Facility guarantee scheme aimed at SMEs, which means the Government can provide an 80% guarantee on financial support from lenders to help with general exporting costs, up to the value of £25 million.
• Implementing the UK Trader Scheme, which ensures that authorised traders do not pay tariffs on the movement of goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain, where those goods can be shown to remain in the UK customs territory.
• Permitting waivers for duty on goods that traders bring into Northern Ireland from Great Britain that would normally be charged ‘at risk’ tariffs, up to a maximum allowance of €200,000 over three tax years.
• A temporary extension of the period in which traders who do not have a fixed place of business in Northern Ireland can be authorised to declare their goods “not at risk” until 1 November 2021, providing they meet all other UK Trader Scheme eligibility requirements.
• Establishing a specific taskforce working with businesses across Northern Ireland and Great Britain on issues related to the Protocol.

The Government has provided enhanced support to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors through business rates relief given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.

The Government has targeted COVID-19 business grant schemes, including Restart Grants, at businesses that have been mandated to close, many of whom are facing high fixed property related costs. This was on the basis that these businesses are less likely to have sufficient cash reserves to meet their costs. These businesses have also continued to be hardest hit by social restrictions and social distancing over the last few months, and therefore have a reduced ability to generate revenue to cover their costs.

A range of further measures to support all businesses, including dental practices, have also been made available, such as the extension of the furlough scheme, Recovery Loan Schemes, and enhanced Time to Pay for Taxes.

Pubs and breweries continue to benefit from a variety of support measures, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has been extended until the end of September 2021; a new UK-wide recovery loan scheme to make available loans between £25,001 and £10 million; and the Additional Restrictions Grant, which provides an additional £425 million of discretionary funding to support local businesses.

Recognising the challenges faced by the beer and pub industry, the Government also decided to freeze alcohol duty at the 2021 Budget.

The alcohol duty review is considering long-term reforms, and further updates will be provided in due course. The Government continues to keep all taxes under review.

The Treasury is considering the merits of differentiating products based on the place of retail as part of its alcohol duty review and has consulted industry and stakeholders for their views. Officials are working closely with HMRC to assess the practical implications of potential options, such as administration costs. The Treasury will provide further updates about the review in due course.

The Treasury is considering the merits of differentiating products based on the place of retail as part of its alcohol duty review and has consulted industry and stakeholders for their views. Officials are working closely with HMRC to assess the practical implications of potential options, such as administration costs. The Treasury will provide further updates about the review in due course.

The Treasury is considering the merits of differentiating products based on the place of retail as part of its alcohol duty review and has consulted industry and stakeholders for their views. Officials are working closely with HMRC to assess the practical implications of potential options, such as administration costs. The Treasury will provide further updates about the review in due course.

As set out in the Budget, the UK Infrastructure Bank will have a broad mandate to offer support across different sectors. This includes being able to support retrofit projects that contribute to achieving net zero emissions, where the Bank’s investment criteria are met.

The Government will provide further guidance on the investment parameters for the Bank in the Framework document to be published at launch.

The Bank will have a range of financing tools at its disposal including senior debt, equity, hybrid products and guarantees.

We recognise the great importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence.

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, HM Treasury has brought in additional staff to its central correspondence team and ensured its correspondence processes are as efficient as possible so Members receive timely, accurate and informative replies to their queries.

The Government recognises the importance of the UK motor industry and the severe impacts of Covid. The sector has benefited from unprecedented support for businesses and individuals over the past year. We continue to work with trade associations and companies to understand the sector’s needs and what support measures companies plan to use as we continue to restart the economy.

The extension to MOT certificates was introduced last year in response to the emerging coronavirus pandemic. This was to ensure that motorists could continue to use their vehicles to travel to work where essential, or to shop for essential food and medicine. The Government did not mandate garage closures, and car servicing was not prohibited. This meant that, while MOT certificates had been extended, motorists would still be able to keep their vehicles safe and roadworthy, including receiving any necessary repairs and maintenance.

Following a consultation, the Government announced on 11 September 2020 that duty-free sales would be extended to EU-bound passengers for the first time in over 20 years from 1 January 2021.

This is a significant boost to all airports and international rail terminals in England, Scotland and Wales, including Manchester, and smaller regional airports and rail hubs, which have not been able to offer duty-free to the EU before.

Duty-free on arrival did not form part of the Government's consultation on the potential approach to duty- and tax-free goods arising from the UK’s new relationship with the EU, which took place in the Spring of 2020. The Government nonetheless acknowledged in the summary of responses to the consultation that some stakeholders had requested the introduction of duty-free on arrival. This also set out that duty-free on arrival was not a scheme that the Government previously offered and was therefore not considering implementing the scheme at that time.

Duty-free on arrival could undermine the UK high street and run counter to public health objectives. The Government would also need to consider the cost and any revenue and legal risks of introducing such a scheme. Any new tax relief will impose additional pressure on the public finances, to which excise duty makes a significant contribution. Duty on alcohol and tobacco raises over £22 billion and plays a key role in funding vital public services like the NHS and addressing harms caused by these products. Any loss in tax revenue would have to be balanced by a reduction in public spending, increased borrowing or increased taxation elsewhere.

The Government expects Plastic Packaging Tax to create greater demand for recycled material and in turn stimulate increased levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste.

The supply of recycled material is also expected to increase in the future as a result of technical advancements, improvements to collection infrastructure through the Government’s proposals for consistency in recycling, and the planned reforms to the Packaging Producer Responsibility system.

Throughout the pandemic, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. To do this, the government has put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The cumulative cost to the Government of this support since the start of the pandemic £352 billion.

Schemes such as the CJRS and SEISS, support for businesses through grants and loans, business rates and VAT relief are continuing beyond the end of the Roadmap. CJRS and SEISS have been extended until the end of September 2021, business rates and VAT relief to the end of the financial year, and Recovery Loans until the end of December 2021.

Thanks to the people’s hard work and sacrifice, supported by the success of the initial stages of the vaccine rollout, there is now a path to reopening the economy. We will continue to take a flexible but cautious approach as we review restrictions, ensuring support reflects the easing of restrictions to enable the economy to bounce back as quickly as possible.

HM Treasury Ministers regularly meet with other government departments and a range of stakeholders, which includes discussions around disabled children and young people, and COVID-19 recovery.

As part of plans to boost education recovery, the government is investing £1.7 billion in academic years 20-21 and 21-22. This includes a £650 million catch up premium in 20-21, and £302 million one-off recovery premium in 21-22. Schools can prioritise this funding to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) where appropriate.

The government is providing a further £1.4 billion over the next three academic years for education recovery, including £1 billion to support up to six million, 15-hour tutoring courses for disadvantaged school children.

HM Treasury responded to the Member on 4 May 2021. A further copy has been sent by email.

The full-time equivalent number of staff working for HMRC’s Large Business Directorate was as follows:

The Large Business Directorate manages the tax compliance of the UK’s 2,000 largest and most complex businesses through a Customer Compliance Manager (CCM) model. CCMs are highly trained specialists, who lead teams of highly skilled tax professionals and other specialists to scrutinise these most complex and potentially high-risk business customers.

HMRC deploy their Large Business Directorate teams flexibly and their compliance professionals are likely to work on a number of different customer enquiries and tax issues at any one time. It is therefore not possible to say how many staff work on each individual Large Business Directorate enquiry.

The full-time equivalent number of staff working for HMRC’s Large Business Directorate was as follows:

The Large Business Directorate manages the tax compliance of the UK’s 2,000 largest and most complex businesses through a Customer Compliance Manager (CCM) model. CCMs are highly trained specialists, who lead teams of highly skilled tax professionals and other specialists to scrutinise these most complex and potentially high-risk business customers.

HMRC deploy their Large Business Directorate teams flexibly and their compliance professionals are likely to work on a number of different customer enquiries and tax issues at any one time. It is therefore not possible to say how many staff work on each individual Large Business Directorate enquiry.

The full-time equivalent number of staff working for HMRC’s Large Business Directorate was as follows:

The Large Business Directorate manages the tax compliance of the UK’s 2,000 largest and most complex businesses through a Customer Compliance Manager (CCM) model. CCMs are highly trained specialists, who lead teams of highly skilled tax professionals and other specialists to scrutinise these most complex and potentially high-risk business customers.

HMRC deploy their Large Business Directorate teams flexibly and their compliance professionals are likely to work on a number of different customer enquiries and tax issues at any one time. It is therefore not possible to say how many staff work on each individual Large Business Directorate enquiry.

There are currently 73.1 million active credentials/accounts registered with Government Gateway; a single unique user may hold several accounts for use in interactions with HMRC and/or other Government departments.

69.4 million credentials are linked to HMRC services and are profiled across the user types below:

• Tax Agents: 1.0 million
• Individuals: 20.9 million
• Organisations: 47.5 million

The remaining 3.7 million credentials are associated to OGDs (not HMRC) and HMRC do not hold a record as to whether these are used for personal or business use.

The Large Business Directorate compliance yield in respect of Corporation Tax is below:

Information has been provided in the table below:

Data in respect of individual dependencies and territories has not been provided, in order to protect taxpayer confidentiality.

Any information that could identify individual taxpayers, including aggregate information concerning a small number of taxpayers, is exempt under Section 18 Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005.

The information requested has been provided in the table below:

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection and publication of data on UK imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC release this information monthly, as a National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com).

Unfortunately the data collected does not enable HMRC to specifically identify ‘Welsh steel’. However, HMRC are able to provide data on steel products allocated to Wales under their Regional Trade in Goods Statistics (RTS) methodology.

The resultant data can be viewed via: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/rts-custom-table/?id=069c86fb-747d-4420-8124-0fddc365a663.

Notes:

1. The RTS data provides a breakdown of imports and exports by regions of the UK, to other countries. Trade for an individual business is allocated to a region based on the proportion of its employees employed in that region. For that reason it is possible that trade in steel by businesses considered to be based in Wales, may appear in the RTS under other regions of the UK other than Wales (or vice-versa). A full description of how UK trade is allocated to a region can be found in the RTS Methodology paper: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/697012/RTS_Methodology_Revision.pdf.
2. The RTS uses the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) which classifies goods more broadly. Steel exports have been defined here as ‘SITC 67 – Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material, Iron and Steel’.
3. RTS data only describes the physical movement of goods between regions of the UK and other countries (not between the UK regions themselves).

HMRC’s RTS methodology was significantly changed to improve the allocation of region to a business. This affected data from 2013. Consequently, data for the period 2010 to 2012 is not comparable and so has not been provided.

HMRC trade statistics data does not provide any commentary on the ‘use’ of the exported items.

The mean and median duration in months for all enquiries concluded by HMRC’s Large Business Directorate was as follows:

The National Insurance contribution relief will be key in supporting the Government’s objectives for the Freeports programme, which includes regeneration through job creation. The Freeports tax sites have not yet been confirmed and so the Government is currently unable to give an accurate estimate of the number of employees that benefit in 2022-23 as this will depend on how many employers use the relief and will vary depending on a number of circumstances, including the location of the Freeport tax site.

The Government will publish an updated Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN), when further information is available following confirmation of the tax sites.

The Government has no plans to require non-UK resident landlords of commercial property to publish data on their tax affairs.

The National Insurance contribution relief will be important in supporting the Government’s objectives for the Freeports programme, which includes regeneration through job creation. The Government has considered the costs of the tax reliefs that will be granted across each of the eight English Freeport locations. However, as a result of these tax reliefs applying only in tax sites agreed and confirmed by Government, estimates of their cost will be dependent on the final locations once agreed.

Bidders were required to submit initial proposals for their tax sites as part of their bids. The Government will outline the process for confirming tax sites in due course and expects to score the costs of tax reliefs, including zero-rate contributions, at the next fiscal event. These costings will undergo the usual scrutiny from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The Government has provided enhanced support to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors through business rates relief given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance on eligibility for the relief, which is targeted at premises that are wholly or mainly being used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues; for assembly and leisure; or as hotels, guest and boarding premises, and self-catering accommodation.

The Budget announced a three-month extension to the business rates holiday for eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors that was provided at Budget 2020. This means over 350,000 properties will pay no business rates for three months this year.

From 1 July 2021, 66% relief will be available subject to a cash cap that depends on whether businesses were required to close or were able to open on 5 January 2021. This additional relief takes the total value of support in 2021-22 to £6 billion and means the vast majority of businesses will on average receive 75% relief across the year.

Under the current VAT rules, the supply of education by an eligible body, including sixth form colleges, without a charge is outside the scope of VAT. Where a charge is applied, it is exempt from VAT. In either case, this means that no VAT is charged on these services. The Government has no plans to review these provisions.

Based on the HMRC organisational structure for March 2011 and May 2021, the numbers of employees located in Scotland were:

Headcount, March 2011 = 9,918

Headcount, May 2021 = 7,817

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the standard rate of 20 per cent normally applies to most goods and services, including PCR tests. Medical testing, where it is administered by registered health professionals, is exempt from VAT. The Government also continues to offer free COVID-19 testing for those with COVID-19 symptoms.

The Government recognises that the cost of PCR tests can be high, which is why it is working with the travel industry and private testing providers to see how costs can be further reduced for the British public while ensuring that travel is as safe as possible.

The Government has put in place very substantial support for taxpayers during this extraordinary time of uncertainty, including the introduction of a range of measures to help businesses and individuals to manage their tax liabilities.

This has included support for those in Self-Assessment, where taxpayers were given the option of deferring their July 2020 Payment on Account until January 2021 to give immediate support to businesses and individuals by keeping cash at their disposal during this extraordinary period of uncertainty.

In addition, HMRC scaled up their Time to Pay service where businesses or individuals can look to agree tailored plans to defer certain tax payments and repay them over a longer period of time.

HMRC also waived late filing penalties for Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) returns due on 31 January 2021 for those who filed online by 28 February 2021, and announced that ITSA taxpayers would not be charged the 5% late payment penalty usually due on 3 March if they paid their tax or set up a payment plan by 1 April 2021.

The Government has put in place very substantial support for taxpayers during this extraordinary time of uncertainty, including the introduction of a range of measures to help businesses and individuals to manage their tax liabilities.

This has included support for those in Self-Assessment, where taxpayers were given the option of deferring their July 2020 Payment on Account until January 2021 to give immediate support to businesses and individuals by keeping cash at their disposal during this extraordinary period of uncertainty.

In addition, HMRC scaled up their Time to Pay service where businesses or individuals can look to agree tailored plans to defer certain tax payments and repay them over a longer period of time.

HMRC also waived late filing penalties for Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) returns due on 31 January 2021 for those who filed online by 28 February 2021, and announced that ITSA taxpayers would not be charged the 5% late payment penalty usually due on 3 March if they paid their tax or set up a payment plan by 1 April 2021.

The UK’s Overseas Territories are fiscally autonomous jurisdictions with their own democratically elected governments responsible for their fiscal matters.

Many of them are members of the OECD Inclusive Framework in their own right, which is the official forum for developing the framework of rules for a global minimum corporation tax; Pillar Two of the two-pillar package being developed by the OECD to address the tax challenges of digitisation.

The UK Government’s fundamental responsibility and objective is to ensure the security and good governance of the Territories and their peoples; the Government continues to uphold that responsibility and remains engaged with the Territories on that basis.

The Government has provided enhanced support to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors through business rates relief given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance on eligibility for the relief, which is targeted at premises that are wholly or mainly being used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues; for assembly and leisure; or as hotels, guest and boarding premises, and self-catering accommodation.

The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors. This relief already comes at a significant cost of over £7 billion to the Exchequer and, while the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are no plans to extend the scope of the reduced rate.

The Government has introduced a wider package of support worth billions to help businesses through the coronavirus period, which includes extensions to the furlough scheme; extensions to the COVID-19 loan schemes; grant support; a business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality and leisure business properties; mortgage holidays; enhanced Time to Pay for taxes; and VAT deferrals.

HM Treasury Ministers regularly meet with other government departments and a range of stakeholders, which includes discussions around disabled children and young people, and COVID-19 recovery.

As part of plans to boost education recovery, the government is investing £1.7 billion in academic years 20-21 and 21-22. This includes a £650 million catch up premium in 20-21, and £302 million one-off recovery premium in 21-22. Schools can prioritise this funding to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) where appropriate.

The government is providing a further £1.4 billion over the next three academic years for education recovery, including £1 billion to support up to six million, 15-hour tutoring courses for disadvantaged school children.