Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Government (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend on the proposed London Garden Bridge; and what information his Department holds on the total cost of that project.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government announced at Autumn Statement 2013 that it would make a £30 million contribution to the costs of the Garden Bridge, which was matched by a further £30 million contribution by Transport for London. The Garden Bridge Trust, which is promoting and delivering the project, says that the delivery costs are expected to be within £175 million in addition to ongoing costs of £3.5 million annually.
Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there is a lower corporation tax limit for clubs, voluntary organisations and charities below which such organisations are not required to submit corporation tax returns.
Answered by David Gauke
Where the corporation tax liability of a club or an unincorporated organisation does not exceed £100, and where that club or organisation is run exclusively for the benefit of its members, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will not generally require that club or organisation to complete corporation tax returns. HMRC review such treatment every 5 years. This treatment does not apply to companies which are wholly owned by, or subsidiaries of, charities.
HMRC recognises that asking a charity to formally claim tax relief every year would be administratively burdensome and therefore they do not require every charity to file a tax return every year.
However, they do require every charity to file a tax return once every few years so that they can check that the charity is claiming any tax exemptions and reliefs in accordance with the law. In addition, charities have an obligation to complete a tax return where they have reason to believe that they should be paying tax on some of their income or gains.
If HMRC send a notice to a charity to file a tax return, the charity must complete it and submit it within the time limits given on the forms or they may face a penalty.
Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of the Isle of Wight of the decision not to allow tonnage tax to apply to the Isle of Wight's ferry services.
Answered by David Gauke
No such assessment has been made. HM Revenue & Customs must apply the law as it stands according to the best of its judgment, with the benefit of legal advice where appropriate.
Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the reasons are for HM Revenue and Customs change of policy with regards to the imposition of tonnage tax on Isle of Wight ferries; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs must apply the law as it stands according to the best of its judgment, with the benefit of legal advice where appropriate.
There have been no changes in the application of the policy. The legislation affecting in particular ferry services was last amended in the Finance Act 2005, in response to amendments to the EU Commission's guidelines on the application of State aids to maritime transport. Tonnage tax must conform to these guidelines.
Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) cadet training and (b) marine employment of the decision not to allow tonnage tax to apply to the Isle of Wight's ferry services.
Answered by David Gauke
No such assessment has been made. HM Revenue & Customs must apply the law as it stands according to the best of its judgment, with the benefit of legal advice where appropriate.
Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to support businesses with five or fewer staff.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government's long term economic plan is backing small businesses as they set up and grow. As part of this plan we are cutting taxes and reducing red tape to help businesses. In particular, the Employment Allowance was introduced in April 2014, and allows businesses and charities throughout the UK to deduct up to £2,000 off their employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) bill each year. Over 60% of the total benefit of the policy is expected to go to businesses with fewer than 10 employees, and a business employing three people on the median full-time private sector wage of £25,800 in 2014-15 will see their typical NICs bill cut by over 25 per cent.
In addition, Autumn Statement 2013 announced the extension of the Small Business Rate Relief until April 2015, taking 350,000 small businesses out of business rates.
The British Business Bank was launched in October 2013 to make finance markets work better for small firms, allowing them to prosper, grow and support the UK economy. Over the next five years, the Bank aims to unlock up to £10 billion of financing for viable smaller businesses. Business Bank programmes facilitated a total of £782m of new lending and investment in the fiscal year 2013/14, to over 30,000 businesses. This represents more than a doubling of activity on the previous year. The Business Bank also supported £100m of new Venture Capital investment in 2013/14. StartUp Loans is a £322m scheme to help individuals to access finance and support to start a business. Over 18,000 loans totalling more than £90m have been made since the launch in April 2012.
These measures are all part of our economic plan that is building a stronger, more competitive economy.
Asked by: Andrew Turner (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he has taken to support small and micro-businesses in creating new jobs.
Answered by Baroness Morgan of Cotes
Support for small and micro businesses is part of the Government's long term economic plan to back business and create jobs. From April this year, businesses can access a £2000 Employment Allowance. Over 90% of the benefit of this allowance will go to small businesses – reducing the cost of creating new jobs.
In addition, from April 2015 we will abolish employer NICs for all under 21 year olds making it cheaper for businesses to employ young people.