Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that the regulatory framework for (a) cryptoassets and (b) blockchain technology helps facilitate investment and growth.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government set out at Fintech Week its firm ambition to make UK a global hub for cryptoasset technology and investment. The Government wants to ensure firms can invest, innovate and scale up in this country. And the Government has announced a number of reforms which will see the regulation and aspects of tax treatment of cryptoassets evolve – our clear message to cryptoasset firms is that the UK is open for business.
These include committing to consult on a future regulatory regime; legislating to bring stablecoins into payments regulation; setting up a series of ministerial-chaired roundtables, bringing together key figures in industry; and exploring ways of enhancing the competitiveness of the UK tax system to encourage further development of the cryptoasset market in the UK.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to review support for adopters who have been affected by the High Income Child Benefit Charge.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government introduced the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from January 2013 to ensure that support is targeted at those who need it most. It applies to anyone with an individual income over £50,000, who claims Child Benefit or whose partner claims it, regardless of the make-up of their household.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) continue to improve their communications to raise awareness of HICBC. This includes information shared via social media, through third parties such as websites aimed at parents or families, and on GOV.UK. The front page of the Child Benefit application form includes a prominent message about HICBC to help families make a decision on whether they should claim and be paid Child Benefit and the importance of claiming even if they opt not to receive payments.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to bring forward proposals for the mandatory provision of basic bank accounts for all individuals; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Under the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015, the nine largest personal current account providers in the UK must offer a basic bank account to customers who are either unbanked in the UK or who are not eligible for any other current account the bank offers.
The nine designated institutions are: Barclays, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, Co-operative Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group (including Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands), Nationwide, Royal Bank of Scotland (including NatWest and Ulster Bank brands), Santander, TSB.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of restricting the gift aid small donations scheme (GASDS) on church donations made overseas by British visitors on UK registered church charities, such as St Andrews Church Kyrenia, and if he will take steps to review his Department's policy on GASDS church donations.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme allows charities to claim a Gift Aid-style top up payment in circumstances where it is not practical, or feasible to collect a Gift Aid declaration. To be eligible, donations made under the scheme must be made and banked in the United Kingdom. Requiring donations to be collected and banked in the UK helps to guard against fraud, as well as ensuring that most donations are made by UK taxpayers.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure (a) retailers and (b) consumers are aware of (i) the ITunes HMRC and (ii) other scams.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC has a dedicated Customer Protection team which targets scams. On iTunes, HMRC has:
Worked with Apple to introduce warnings on vouchers
Joined up with gov.uk, Action Fraud, & Financial Fraud Action to increase awareness
Written to retailers encouraging staff training around i-tunes scams
To reduce other scams, HMRC has:
Worked with the mobile industry, delivering a 90% reduction in reported abuse of HMRC branded SMS texts
Challenged ownership of misleading domains, and diverted over 2m visits to gov.uk educational pages
Had over 1m visits to gov.uk scam-education pages
Requested removal of over 12,000 malicious websites since April
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has assessed the potential merits of adopting a reduced VAT rate for goods and services required for the essential repair and maintenance of listed buildings.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
EU VAT rules do not allow the introduction of a reduced rate of VAT for goods and services required for the repair and maintenance of listed buildings. While the UK remains a member of the EU, we will continue to abide by our rights and obligations.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on sixth form colleges of being ineligible for VAT registration.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Sixth form colleges generally make supplies that are outside the scope of VAT. They can also make both exempt and taxable supplies depending upon their individual circumstances.
Any organisation that makes taxable supplies may choose to register for VAT, even if the annual value of those supplies is below the VAT registration threshold.
An organisation must register for VAT if the annual value of their taxable supplies is above the VAT registration threshold. The VAT registration threshold is currently set at £83,000 and will increase to £85,000 with effect from 1 April 2017.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of stamp duty reform on small-scale property development companies since the increase in stamp duty on second properties in April 2016.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Property development companies are treated in the same way in the Stamp Duty Land Tax system as other companies, and, as with all taxes, the Government continues to review the impact of recent changes.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing the remit of the public sector pension cap in order to harmonise its application on all areas of the public sector.
Answered by David Gauke
The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 provided for an employer cost cap mechanism to ensure that the costs of public service pension schemes remain sustainable in the future. The mechanism provides that the cost to the employer of providing pension benefits is kept within defined margins, thereby protecting the taxpayer from unforeseen cost risks.
Where the cost cap is breached, it is for the responsible authority to agree, in consultation with employers and members, or their representatives, appropriate changes to bring costs back within the defined margins. There are no plans to prescribe that a particular action must be taken to rebalance costs, but each scheme is required to set out the default change that will be made in the event agreement cannot be reached.
Asked by: Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making care home expenses tax deductible.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Tax relief for the cost of care in residential homes would disproportionately benefit those on higher incomes, whilst being of little or no benefit to those on more modest incomes. Furthermore, about half of pensioners do not pay tax and would be excluded from the scope of such a relief.