Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the length of legal protections under the Debt respite (breathing space) scheme.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government launched the Breathing Space scheme on 4 May 2021, and as of January 2023, over 110,000 people in problem debt have benefited from Breathing Space protections.
As part of the consultation on the Statutory Debt Repayment Plan (SDRP), the Government proposed minor technical changes to Breathing Space and invited views on what further changes could be made. The Government is considering these proposals and will provide a further update in due course.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the potential change in tax revenues arising from the Energy Profits Levy investment allowance for the development the Rosebank oil field.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast of tax revenues from Energy Profits Levy was presented at Autumn Statement 2022. An update will be published alongside Spring Budget 2023 on Wednesday, 15 March.
The forecast takes into account the effect of the investment allowance but does not give a breakdown by field or company to protect taxpayer confidentiality.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the letter of 9 February 2023 from Martin Lewis.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Government values input from stakeholders, and the Chancellor will respond to Martin Lewis’ letter as soon as possible.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton of 10 January 2023 on the international aid budget.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The hon. Member's correspondence was received on 10 January 2023 and I have responded.Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will publish all correspondence between his Department, Yevgeny Prigozhin and his legal representatives.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
HM Treasury does not comment on individual licensing cases or publish correspondence with applicants for licences.
We need to carefully balance the right to legal representation - which is a fundamental one - with wider issues, including the aim and purpose of the sanctions. It is right therefore that Ministers are examining whether there are any changes that can be made to the licensing of legal expenses.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to help improve the transparency of decisions of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
HM Treasury does not comment on individual licensing cases or publish correspondence with applicants for licences.
We need to carefully balance the right to legal representation - which is a fundamental one - with wider issues, including the aim and purpose of the sanctions. It is right therefore that Ministers are examining whether there are any changes that can be made to the licensing of legal expenses.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a list of individuals that have been exempted from sanctions by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation; if he will provide details of licensing conditions required by the OFSI; and how many applications for special licences have been rejected.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
OFSI publishes the number of financial sanctions licences issued in its Annual Review which is publicly available from OFSI’s website. OFSI will publish the latest figures in the next Annual Review in due course.
OFSI does not publish the names of designated persons or applicants who have been granted specific licences. Licensing conditions are decided on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of aligning the rates of Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As set out in the Government’s response to the Office of Tax Simplification's report on Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on 30 November 2021, substantial reforms to CGT rates and allowances would involve a number of wider policy trade-offs and so careful thought must be given to the impact that they would have on taxpayers, as well as any additional administrative burden on HMRC.
The Government will continue to keep the tax system under review to ensure it is simple and efficient.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and (b) Secretary of State for International Trade since their return from the World Economic Forum in Davos on the potential merits of stronger tax legislation on (i) billionaires and (ii) large corporations.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to ensuring everyone contributes their fair share of tax in the UK. That includes the most profitable companies and the wealthiest individuals.
The income tax system is highly progressive. The top 5 per cent are projected to pay half of all income tax in 2022-2023. The top 1 per cent are projected to pay over 28 per cent of all income tax in 2022-2023.
Equally, in financial year 2020-2021, 52 per cent of total Corporation Tax (CT) receipts (or £26.8 billion) were contributed by approximately 4,100 companies, which represents only 0.3 per cent of all companies who had an amount of CT to pay.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the level expected revenue from alcohol duty in 2023-24 following the decision to the extend the freeze on alcohol duty from 1 February to 1 August 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast for alcohol duty receipts for the tax year 2023-2024 can be found at the following link: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/CCS0822661240-002_SECURE_OBR_EFO_November_2022_WEB_ACCESSIBLE.pdf.
To note, these estimates were published in November 2022 and do not account for the impact of the 19 December announcement, which confirmed the timings of the next alcohol duty decision to provide businesses with certainty.
As I said in my statement on 19 December, the Chancellor has reserved his decision on future duty rates for Spring Budget 2023 and the impact on expected revenues for 2023-24 will depend on the outcome of his decision. This will be costed by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and published at the Spring Budget in the usual way.