Asked by: Chris White (Conservative - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2016, whether his Department has set a timetable to review the current tax system for research and development support.
Answered by David Gauke
As announced in November 2016, the government is reviewing the tax environment for Research and Development (R&D) to look at how to make the UK an even more competitive place to do R&D. The review is due to conclude at the Spring Budget.
Asked by: Chris White (Conservative - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2016, which business sectors his Department is encouraging to raise their research and development investment.
Answered by David Gauke
The government is committed to supporting innovative businesses and research across all sectors, and supporting technologies where the UK has a strong scientific and commercial advantage.
At the Autumn Statement, the government announced a significant increase in public R&D spending, rising to an extra £2 billion a year by 2020-21. This will include an Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, which will support collaborations between businesses and the UK’s world-leading science base.
Asked by: Chris White (Conservative - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses accessed the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) in 2014-15; what the cost of SEIS was to his Department in that year; and what the return on investment was for the economy as a result of the SEIS.
Answered by David Gauke
The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) is forecast to cost the Exchequer £180m in 2014-15. Outturn figures for 2014-15 are not yet available. Updated figures on the cost of the relief will be published in December 2016.
The first official statistics on the number of companies raising funds, number of subscriptions, and amounts raised for Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes for 2014-15 will be published in April 2016.
No results have been published on the return on investment from the SEIS.
Asked by: Chris White (Conservative - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses benefited from video games tax relief in 2014-15; what the cost of that relief was to his Department in that year; and what the return on investment was for the economy as a result of that relief.
Answered by David Gauke
Video Games Tax Relief is forecast to cost the Exchequer £10m in 2014-15. The first Official Statistics on the number of claims and cost of Video Games Tax Relief will be published in Summer 2016, allowing sufficient time for claims to have been submitted for the 2014-15 tax year. No estimate of the benefit for the economy as a whole is available.
The forecast has been certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and is consistent with their latest forecast of Corporation Tax receipts.
Asked by: Chris White (Conservative - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses benefited from R&D tax credits in 2014-15; what the cost of R&D tax credits was to his Department in that year; and what the return on investment was of R&D tax credit expenditure for his Department.
Answered by David Gauke
R&D tax credit statistics are published by HMRC each September, so the final figures for 2014-15 won’t be available until September 2016.
HMRC’s latest statistics for 2013-14 show that there were 20,100 claims to R&D tax credits in that year, and that the scheme cost £1.75bn.
In March 2015, HMRC published an evaluation of R&D tax credits. This evaluation estimates that for every pound spent by the government onR&Dtax credits, between £1.53 and £2.35 is additionally spent onR&Dby UK companies.