Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the £95,000 cap on public sector exit payments is planned to come into force; what the timeframe is for the publication of the Government response to the consultation on the draft regulations that closed on 3 July 2019; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The government is currently considering responses to the consultation and will publish its response in due course. Once the government response has been published, regulations are required to be laid before Parliament for approval through the affirmative procedure to bring the cap into force.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to classify motorhomes as commercial vehicles for taxation purposes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government reformed Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) to encourage the uptake of vehicles with lower CO2 emissions to help us meet our legally binding climate change targets. It is right that under the reformed system motorhomes with high CO2 emissions pay greater first year VED than those with lower emissions.
I met representatives of the industry to discuss the matter and I understand their concerns. As with all taxes, the Government keeps the VED treatment of motorhomes under review.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what further steps his Department plans to take to prepare for the UK leaving the EU on 31 October 2019 without withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Leaving the EU without a deal remains the default option on 31 October. As a responsible government, we have been preparing for all EU exit eventualities, including the possibility of no deal, for over two years. In light of the extension that has now been agreed, departments are making sensible decisions about the timing and pace at which some of this work is progressing, but we will continue to prepare for all exit scenarios. When necessary we will continue to update our advice on gov.uk/euexit on how businesses and citizens should prepare.
HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion to prepare for our withdrawal from the EU since 2016, including over £2bn for the 19-20 financial year. This funding will help departments to manage pressures arising from exit preparations, as well as ensuring that the UK is prepared to seize the opportunities available when we leave the EU. The Treasury has also made arrangements to ensure that departments and the Devolved Administrations can fund measures to address civil contingencies in a no deal scenario.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential effect on the money accrued to the public purse of raising the maximum threshold for VAT by (a) 5 and (b) 10 per cent.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Estimates of the revenue impact of raising the registration threshold for VAT are set out in the review ‘Value added tax: routes to simplification’ by the Office of Tax Simplification, available here (see page 8): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/657215/Value_added_tax_routes_to_simplification_print.pdf
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money accrued to the public purse from VAT on (a) domestic and (b) other fuel in 2017-18.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The details that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collects from taxpayers on their VAT returns are not specific enough to enable the revenue arising from these supplies to be quantified precisely. HMRC does not require detail on particular products and customer types because it would place a considerable administrative burden on businesses.
However, HMRC has estimated (using other data sources) that the cost to the Exchequer of the 5 per cent reduced rate of VAT on domestic fuel and power, compared to charging the standard rate, was £4.7 billion in 2017-18. This estimate is included in HMRC’s publication ‘Estimated costs of principal tax reliefs’ which may be found here:
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of money accrued to the public purse from VAT in 2018-19; and what proportion of that amount will be payable to the European Union.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) has forecast, in its Economic and Fiscal Outlook- October 2018, that the UK will collect £132.2 billion in revenue from VAT in 2018-19.
The UK does not transfer VAT receipts to the EU, and so will not do so after withdrawal from the EU.
Details on our payments to the EU can be found in the White Paper on ‘European Union Finances’ which is published annually and is available online.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money accrued to the public purse from VAT from insulating materials for home improvement in 2018-19.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold this information.
HMRC does not collect this level of information on its VAT returns and does not have estimates of the VAT collected on the sale of insulating materials for home improvement.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2018 to Question 184368 on Public Sector Exit Payments, whether the affirmative regulations referred to are the same as the necessary regulations which were reported in the Answer of 6 July 2017 to Question 1447 on Public Sector: Redundancy Pay, as being currently in the process of drafting; and whether the regulations have now been drafted.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government will be consulting on the set of affirmative regulations referred to both answers. These regulations are in the process of being drafted, and will be published for consultation in due course.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his Department's policy to support the Public Sector Exit Payments (Limitation) Bill; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government legislated through the Enterprise Act 2016 for a £95,000 cap on exit payments in the public sector. This reform to exit payment compensation requires affirmative regulations to come into force, which I plan to consult on before bringing them before Parliament.
I fully support the intention to limit exit payments across the public sector, however this Bill would duplicate existing primary legislation and delay its implementation.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March 2018 to Question 129888, on Public Sector: Redundancy Pay, when the process of drafting the necessary regulations began; when that drafting is forecast to be completed; and what the projected number of hours for that drafting process is.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government remains committed to ending six figure pay outs in the public sector. The regulations to implement the exit payment cap were drafted as part of the passage of the Enterprise Act 2016. Since that time, they have undergone further iteration and will be completed following the outcome of the consultation and then laid in Parliament. It is not possible to forecast the hours required to reflect the degree of changes which may be made to the draft regulations following the outcome of the consultation, which will necessarily depend on consultees views and the Government’s response to that consultation. The consultation will seek views on the terms of the draft secondary legislation, including the detailed design of the exit payment cap and the list of bodies to which the cap will apply.