Class 4 National Insurance Contributions

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Michelle Donelan

Wednesday 15th March 2017 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

As the hon. Gentleman will know, this Government have introduced a raft of measures over the years to target the avoidance of tax by large corporations, and we have raised a very substantial amount of additional tax—well over £100 billion—through those measures. The VAT flat rate scheme, which he mentioned, was introduced to assist the smallest businesses, but it had been turned into a systematic route for abuse, and I am afraid that we had to deal with it to make sure that the tax base was not eroded. However, we will always seek to support the genuinely self-employed hard-working people who are the backbone of this country’s economy.

[Michelle Donelan (Chippenham) (Con)]

On behalf of all the hard-working self-employed people in Wiltshire, I thank the Chancellor for his announcement today and welcome it. The introduction of a new state pension marks a significant increase in retirement provision for the self-employed, but without any auto-enrolment scheme, they still do not have parity on pensions. Will the Chancellor please remember that and look at it?

[Mr Hammond]

Yes. As we have now cast more widely our review of the differences in how employees and the self-employed are treated, it is right that we should look at that particular aspect as well, and we will do so.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Hammond of Runnymede and Michelle Donelan

Tuesday 19th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I assure the hon. Gentleman that when we look at the corporate tax environment, we will not just be looking at headline rates. We will be looking at the marginal effective rates of corporate tax for investors in the UK, because that is what we want to target—more investment, more jobs and the creation of more wealth in the UK.

[Michelle Donelan (Chippenham) (Con)]

6. What steps the Government are taking to reform the business rates system.