Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Penn on 4 July (HL Deb), whether they will increase the allowable mileage rate for employees using their own vehicles for business purposes from 45 pence per mile, given the increased cost of fuel.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government sets the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP) rates to minimise administrative burdens. The AMAP rates aim to reflect running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation. Depreciation is estimated to constitute the most significant proportion of the AMAP rates. Fuel costs only contribute to a fraction of the AMAP rates and not the total rate.
Employers are not required to use the AMAP rates. Instead, they can agree to reimburse the actual cost incurred, where individuals can provide evidence of the expenditure, without an Income Tax or National Insurance charge arising.
Alternatively, they can choose to pay a different mileage rate that is higher or lower than the AMAP rates. If an employee is paid less than the approved amount, they are allowed to claim Mileage Allowance Relief (MAR) from HMRC. However, if the payment exceeds the relevant AMAP rate, and this results in a profit for the individual, they will be liable to pay Income Tax and National Insurance contributions on the difference.
As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rates under review and any changes are considered by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Netflix will be subject to the Digital Services Tax.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. It would not be appropriate for Treasury ministers to become involved in or to comment on the administration of the tax system in specific cases.
Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that Netflix’s revenues in the UK are subject to an appropriate level of taxation.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. It would not be appropriate for Treasury ministers to become involved in or to comment on the administration of the tax system in specific cases.
Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much tax relief Netflix received under the creative industry tax reliefs for Corporation Tax scheme.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. It would not be appropriate for Treasury ministers to become involved in or to comment on the administration of the tax system in specific cases.
Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 22 June (HL5467) and given that notice payments to employees who are being made redundant are not redundancy payments, whether they will now answer the question put, namely whether it is their intention that employers are reimbursed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for employees who are under notice of redundancy.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Pay during the redundancy notice period is based on the individual’s rights under their contract of employment and the statutory right to notice pay (under section 86 and the following sections of the Employment Rights Act 1996). The rules on statutory notice pay are complex and depend on whether the employer is required to give only statutory notice, or at least a week more than statutory notice, and whether the employee has normal working hours or not. For any period of notice which exceeds the minimum statutory requirement, the terms of the contract of employment would need to be considered.
In these very difficult times, the Government would not expect an employer to take advantage of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has brought benefit to employers and employees alike, to make someone redundant on less favourable terms than they would otherwise have received.
Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is their intention that employers are reimbursed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for employees who are under notice of redundancy.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been successful in supporting employers whose operations have been severely affected by coronavirus in retaining their employees and protecting the UK economy.
Where a business considers that redundancy is the only option, standard employment law applies to employees on furlough. CJRS grants cannot be used to substitute redundancy payments.
Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are (1) the benefits, and (2) the concessions, provided exclusively to people of pensionable age; and what are the costs of each to the Exchequer.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
In total, DWP expenditure to people of pensionable age in 2017/18 was £123.8bn and this includes benefits payable to pensioners but not exclusive to that group such as: Disability Living Allowance; Personal Independence Payment; Christmas Bonus; and Cold Weather Payments. Exclusive pensioner benefits are listed below :
Pensioner benefit expenditure 2017/18 | |
Attendance Allowance | £5.74bn |
Pension Credit | £5.57bn |
State Pension (bSP and nSP combined) | £97.38bn |
Winter Fuel Payments | £2.1bn |
Free TV Licences | £655m |
Asked by: Lord Forsyth of Drumlean (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made an estimate of the revenue which could be raised if the exemption from employee and employer's national insurance contributions for people above pensionable age was removed; and if so, what is that estimate.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The “Estimated costs of principal tax reliefs” publication, sets out an estimate of the cost of the exemption of those over State pension age from paying National Insurance. It is estimated that the cost of this exemption is approximately £1.1bn in 2018-19. The estimates do not allow for any behavioural changes as a result of the reliefs. In practice if a relief was withdrawn, taxpayers’ behaviour would be likely to alter so that the actual yield could be lower than that shown in the tables.
Employers are not currently exempt from paying employer NICs for their employees above the state pension age.