Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Autumn Statement announcement on vehicle excise duty (VED) changes, whether they intend to levy annual VED of £165 from 2025 on electric vehicles; whether pre-2017 petrol and diesel vehicles rated at less than 110 gCO2/km will continue to pay £20; and whether those rated 110–120gCO2/km will continue to pay £30; if so, what are their reasons for charging lower road tax on more polluting vehicles; and if not, what steps they will take to ensure that electric vehicles are not charged higher VED than more polluting vehicles.
Answered by Baroness Penn
In his Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced that electric cars, vans and motorcycles will begin to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) in the same way as petrol and diesel vehicles from April 2025. With the EV transition accelerating, it’s right that all drivers start to make a fair tax contribution through changes to VED.
The details requested are included in the Autumn Statement document and in the tax information and impact notes.
Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the value of commodity derivatives or economically equivalent contracts which were traded (1) over the counter, and (2) in trading venues in the UK, by FCA-regulated firms in respect of (a) oil, (b) gas, (c) coal, (d) electricity, and (e) soft commodities, in the past 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HM Treasury does not hold this data. However, such data may be provided publicly by certain financial markets data companies.Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the revenue and earnings attributable to UK listed firms from (1) trading commodity derivatives, and (2) economically equivalent over the counter contracts.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HM Treasury does not hold this data. However, such data may be provided publicly by certain financial markets data companies.Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many consumers have invested in commodity derivatives for (1) oil, (2) gas, (3) coal, (4) electricity, and (5) soft commodities, via automatic enrolment in workplace pensions over the past 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HM Treasury does not hold this data. However, such data may be provided publicly by certain financial markets data companies.Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many consumers have directly invested in commodity derivatives for (1) oil, (2) gas, (3) coal, (4) electricity, and (5) soft commodities, in the past 12 months.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HM Treasury does not hold this data. However, such data may be provided publicly by certain financial markets data companies.Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consumer protections are in place for consumers directly or indirectly investing in commodity derivatives.
Answered by Baroness Penn
Most commodity derivatives are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who have an operational objective to secure appropriate protection for consumers of regulated financial services.
The protections the FCA have in place to protect consumers include requiring firms to provide clients with a general description of the nature and risks of financial instruments, and a warning that people usually lose money when trading speculative instruments with commodities as an underlying asset. These protections apply when consumers participate in the market directly and indirectly and enables them to make investment decisions on an informed basis. Depending on the circumstances, consumers may also be able to qualify for Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection when dealing indirectly with commodity markets.
Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential to reduce carbon emissions by introducing a road usage duty, and whether they will publish any such assessment.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
UK Motorists currently pay fuel duty and VAT on fuel, which means that those who use the roads the most, and do so in higher polluting cars, pay more tax. In addition, the Government uses the Vehicle Excise Duty system to encourage the uptake of cars with low carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) to help meet our legally binding climate change targets.
However, technology is changing many aspects of the economy – including the vehicles we drive – and the government is considering how the tax system will need to adapt to manage those changes.
Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the amount of stamp duty reserve tax that will be repaid following the 2012 decision of the First-Tier Tribunal (Tax) in the case of <i>HSBC Holdings PLC and the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation v HMRC </i>(TC/2009/165484)<i>.</i>
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is not in a position to provide an assessment of Stamp Duty Reserve Tax that may be repaid following the 2012 First Tier Tribunal decision in the case of HSBC Holdings PLC and the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation v HMRC. This is due to ongoing litigation of cases arising from that decision.
Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much stamp duty reserve tax has been repaid following the 2012 decision of the First-Tier Tribunal (Tax) in the case of<i> HSBC Holdings PLC and the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation v HMRC</i> (TC/2009/165484).
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The First Tier Tribunal in the case of HSBC Holdings PLC and the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation v HMRC decided in March 2012 that the taxing of Stamp Duty Reserve Tax at 1.5% on a transfer of shares which is integral to a share capital raising exercise to a depositary receipt issuer or clearance service, infringed the Capital Duty Directive. Following that decision, HMRC has repaid a total of £168 million Stamp Duty Reserve Tax to various claimants.
Asked by: Baroness Worthington (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures are in place to limit the exposure of the public purse to costs arising through reliefs and repayments of Ring Fence Corporation Tax, Petroleum Revenue Tax, and the Supplementary Charge, incurred by the decommissioning of North Sea oil and gas infrastructure.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government believes in making the most of the UK’s oil and gas resources – to date the oil and gas industry has contributed £330bn to the Exchequer and is the UK’s largest industrial investor, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, supplying a large portion of the UK’s primary energy needs and making a significant contribution to GDP. With between 11 and 21 billion barrels of oil equivalent still to be exploited, the UK Continental Shelf can continue to provide considerable economic benefits for many years to come.
The Government is committed to ensuring decommissioning programmes represent value for money, which is why we have introduced provisions through the Energy Bill to: