Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to enforce sanctions on businesses trading with Russia; and whether her Department is taking steps to help tackle the shipment of goods by Mykines Corporation LLP to Russia.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC is responsible for enforcing export controls on strategic goods and sanctions and investigating potential breaches of those controls; a role it takes very seriously.
HMRC considers all credible information it receives and takes action accordingly. However, HMRC is unable to comment on specific cases.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to increase the speed of responses to HMRC complaints.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC is committed to delivering performance improvements to complaints handling and response times for customers. HMRC are working hard to address backlogs across post receipts from customers across various channels as well as customer complaints.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of extending the customs easement on humanitarian aid for Ukraine after June 2023.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On 27 May 2022 the UK Government extended the temporary customs easement introduced in March 2022 to make it easier to move aid and donations out of the UK to support the people of Ukraine.
The easement, which excludes all controlled goods and dual use goods, remains under review ahead of its scheduled end date on 19 June 2023.
Government advice remains that organisations and people who would like to help should donate cash through trusted charities and aid organisations, rather than donating goods. Cash can be transferred quickly to the areas of greatest need, where it can be used to buy what is most needed.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making care home expenses tax deductible.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This Government believes we need to have a social care system to give every person the dignity and security that they deserve. This is why we committed to improving social care in our manifesto.
At the Autumn statement, in November, the Government made available up to £2.8 billion in 2023-2024 and £4.7 billion in 2024-2025 to support adult social care and get people out of hospital on time and into appropriate care settings.
This includes £1 billion of new grant funding in 2023-2024 and £1.7 billion in 2024-2025, £1.3 billion in 2023-2024 and £1.9 billion in 2024-2025 savings from delaying the rollout of charging reform and further flexibility for local authorities on council tax.
Successive Governments have held the longstanding principle that personal expenditure is not deductible against income tax.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to confer eligibility for temporary importation vehicle relief under the HMRC form C110 on people who have arrived under the Homes for Ukraine scheme for the full duration of their visas.
Answered by Richard Fuller
Ukrainian refugees entering the UK temporarily under the Homes for Ukraine scheme do not need to declare their personal vehicles to customs, pay any customs duty, or import VAT on their vehicle, provided the vehicle is taxed and registered in its home country.
This is provided for under the Temporary Admission (TA) procedure which allows certain goods to be imported into the UK temporarily, with total relief from customs duty and import VAT. Under TA, imported goods or belongings must not be altered (but can be repaired to maintain their condition) and must be re-exported within a set time period (normally 6 months).
Ukrainian refugees staying in the UK longer than 6 months under the terms of their visas can apply for an extension of the TA set-period by contacting HMRC’s National Temporary Admission Section (NTAS) at: ntis@hmrc.gov.uk. If they provide NTAS with a copy of their Biometric Residence Permit, or any other evidence of their permission to remain in the UK, HMRC will grant an extension up to 3 years.
The C110 is an optional form which provides evidence that the vehicle is under temporary importation status if stopped on public roads by the police or a customs official.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the amount the Government received in voluntary contributions via direct bank transfer to the Treasury in the 2021-22 financial year.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The total amount received from voluntary contributions specifically for the reduction of the national debt is published annually in the annual Report and Accounts of the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt receipts and payments, which can be found on the Debt Management Office’s website. The web link to the publicly available information is provided as follow:https://www.dmo.gov.uk/media/hf5l1t1t/crndrep2022.pdf
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to streamline the process of making voluntary contributions to the Government.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Individuals can make a voluntary contribution to the Government for the purposes of public spending or reducing the National Debt. Individuals can arrange a direct bank transfer to HM Treasury for donations in general towards public expenditure or can make a contribution to the Donations and Bequests account in the form of cash or UK government securities for reducing the National Debt. There are no plans to change the process for making a voluntary contribution, as it is clearly set out in guidelines published by the Debt Management Office.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department has plans to help support people selling their homes following a number of banks withdrawing mortgages.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
There remains a broad range of mortgage products on the market, and those looking to take out a mortgage are encouraged to shop around and speak to a mortgage broker.
The pricing and availability of loans is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. Likewise, it would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene in individual house sales.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to increase the maximum tax relief claim for job expenses for working from home, in the context of rising gas and electricity costs.
Answered by Richard Fuller
Eligible employees can claim tax relief on the allowance of £6 per week without the need to provide evidence of expenditure. The amount was increased from £4 per week in April 2020.
As with all aspect of the tax system, the Government keeps tax reliefs under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.
Employees who are eligible for tax relief for working from home can claim relief on the actual amount of additional household costs, providing they can provide evidence of the increased amount.