Danny Alexander
Main Page: Danny Alexander (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)Department Debates - View all Danny Alexander's debates with the HM Treasury
(12 years, 7 months ago)
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The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
This year’s Finance Bill is the next step in delivering the coalition Government’s core aims of returning this country to sustainable, shared prosperity, dealing with the deficit, supporting the private sector, restoring economic growth and clearing up the mess that the Labour party made of the British economy.
Danny Alexander
I will take interventions, but I will make some progress first.
This Finance Bill sets out wide-ranging reforms to build a fairer, more efficient and simpler tax system that supports families, rewards hard work, promotes business and ensures that everyone pays their fair share.
Ian Lucas
On the question of fairness, why has the right hon. Gentleman allowed a VAT concession for skiers going to the piste but refused my repeated request for a VAT concession for disabled people in wheelchairs using taxi facilities run by charities such as Chariots, in my constituency?
Danny Alexander
I am not aware of the particular issue that the hon. Gentleman mentions. He has not raised it directly with me before, but I am sure he has with my colleagues. I would be very happy to consider it. The issue of cable-powered transport systems has been raised many times by the industry, and a good case has been presented for the change.
The Bill builds on the strong foundations that we have secured in the past two years, safeguarding our economic stability, creating a fairer, more efficient and simpler tax system and driving through reforms to unleash the private sector enterprise and ambition that is critical to our recovery. We will not achieve that by returning to the model of unsustainable debt, irresponsible spending and over-reliance on one sector and one region.
We will not jeopardise the progress that we have made in tackling our debts. We will stick to our plans, because it is fair that we tackle those debts today so that we do not burden our children tomorrow.
Mr John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)
When the Government proposed VAT on pasties, did they feel they needed to do that to protect other VAT revenue on takeaways from European challenge? Is that what is in the Chief Secretary’s mind?
Danny Alexander
No, that is not what is in our mind. It is one of a number of anomalies in the VAT system that we addressed in the Budget, although it is not actually a matter contained in the Bill. My right hon. Friend will be aware of the comments of, for example, the National Federation of Fish Friers, which makes the point that small independent fish shops, of which there are thousands around the country located in the constituency of every Member, have for many years been charged VAT on sales whereas other retailers have not. We are seeking to correct that anomaly.
Mr Russell Brown (Dumfries and Galloway) (Lab)
Is the Chief Secretary now in a position—he was not in the early days after the announcement—to clarify matters on hot food takeaways, particularly pasties and pies? If a product is freshly baked and hot, but then allowed to cool down, is it sold with VAT added or not?
Danny Alexander
I will give the hon. Gentleman time to cool down, if he likes. He will know that a draft statutory instrument has been published, which goes into the matter in some detail, and the House may well have an opportunity to discuss it in due course. However, the basic answer is that food that is hot and taken away is taxed as hot takeaway food. It is as simple as that.
We will stick to our plans on the economy because financial discipline is the essential pre-condition for economic growth, even though that requires difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions, and helps provide confidence and the low and stable interest rates that businesses need to invest in growth and job creation. That confidence was shown at the weekend by the reaffirmation of this country’s triple A credit rating by Standard & Poor’s, the same agency that called it into question when the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls) was a member of the Cabinet.
We are committed to securing a recovery led by private sector entrepreneurs, wealth creators and export industries—the sort of growth that the Opposition failed to deliver in more than a decade in government. That is why we are going even further in the Bill to boost our competitiveness and ensure that Britain is again one of the best places in the world to do business, reversing our fall down the global competitiveness league tables that took place under the Labour Administration.
Mr Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)
This is a Budget for jobs—it lowers corporation tax and takes some people out of tax altogether. That is why it is particularly concerning that it proposes to introduce 20% VAT on static caravans, which are mostly manufactured in east Yorkshire and are deployed in coastal and rural communities throughout the country—the entire supply chain is in this country. The cost of the proposal in jobs will be thousands, and I am grateful that the Government are consulting on it. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Members of all parties are concerned? We need to get that right because the Budget will reverse the destruction of manufacturing that happened under the previous Government, and we do not want to make any inadvertent errors.
Danny Alexander
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point. I know that it is a matter of concern to several Members, particularly in his part of the country. The change is, again, intended to equalise the VAT system for caravans that are used for leisure purposes. There will certainly be an opportunity to consider the detail, and my hon. Friend will be free to make representations, along with, I am sure, colleagues from his part of the country. We look forward to hearing what he has to say.
Danny Alexander
No, I will make some progress, because, as my hon. Friend also said, and as the House knows, the Government have already set out plans to reduce the main rate of corporation tax to 23%, but this year’s Finance Bill goes even further for precisely the reasons that he gave.
Clauses 5 and 6 will reduce the main rate of corporation tax to 22% by 2014—a headline rate that is dramatically lower than that of our competitors, the lowest in the G7 and the fourth lowest in the G20.
Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)
On that point, it is incredibly important that the Government are reducing the rate of corporation tax. That is great news for British business. However, British business pays corporation tax. Should not we take proper action against multinationals that rip off our country and do not pay proper taxes, and ensure that they pay a fair share of tax, like every British business, so that we have a level tax playing field for all companies?
Danny Alexander
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his support for our measures on corporation tax. The fact that they have been welcomed not just by hon. Members, but by the CBI and a range of business organisations—and, indeed, that they have been shown to increase business investment—will help this country retain its international competitiveness, which declined markedly when the Labour party was in government.
My hon. Friend is right that we must deal with tax avoidance by companies, and there are a number of measures in the Bill that are precisely aimed at ensuring that businesses pay their fair share of tax, which I am sure he would wish to support. Furthermore, through clause 180, we are introducing vital reforms to the controlled foreign companies rules, and, through clause 19, a patent box to allow UK businesses to operate in an ever-more globalised world. Hopefully, we will encourage some of the businesses to which he refers to return to the UK. The latter measure has already secured a major investment in this country by a major chemicals company.
As well as creating the competitive conditions for enterprise to thrive, we must ensure that businesses have the support they need to seize the opportunities in the recovery. That is why we are taking action in the Bill to support the small businesses, the start-ups and the entrepreneurs that are critical to creating new jobs in the recovery. Clauses 39 and 40 increase the annual investment limit for enterprise investment scheme and venture capital trusts to £5 million. In that spirit, through clause 28, we are introducing a new scheme—the seed enterprise investment scheme—to encourage further investment in small, start-up companies, which are the kind of companies this country needs more of as the recovery continues. Those are significant steps to encouraging new growth, galvanising new sectors, and broadening access to finance for UK business, helping to rebalance our economy away from its over-reliance on one sector and one region.
We are committed to supporting a private sector recovery right across the UK. Clause 44 introduces a new, enhanced capital allowance regime for businesses in seven enterprise zones in England, three in Scotland and one in Wales.
Miss Anne McIntosh (Thirsk and Malton) (Con)
My right hon. Friend might have noticed that most of the enterprise zones are in urban areas. We have heard about static caravans and churches, but there is growing concern about rural businesses, which are losing out by not being in areas that will benefit from the schemes that he is announcing.
Danny Alexander
I recognise my hon. Friend’s concern. On churches, she will be aware that, as we said in the Budget, we will increase the listed places of worship scheme by £5 million a year, precisely to enable churches that have alterations to benefit from the scheme and not to be adversely affected. However, our investment in transport infrastructure and a number of local transport schemes, and the massive investment in broadband in rural areas—we are investing £520 million to ensure that every part of the country has the latest superfast broadband—will make a major difference to rural economies. Along with the increases to the income tax personal allowance, to which I shall turn in due course and which will particularly benefit rural areas, where incomes tend to be lower than in urban areas, there are many reasons why the rural economy will benefit significantly from the measures taken by this Government. Enterprise zones will help to promote growth in every part of the UK.
The Budget included an announcement of a package of measures to ensure that we fulfil our potential to extract the greatest possible amount of oil and gas from our reserves in the North sea through a major package of tax changes. We will end the uncertainty on decommissioning tax relief that hangs over the industry by entering into contracts with companies. We will also introduce new field allowances, including a £3 billion new field allowance for large and deep fields, to open up west of Shetland, the last area of the basin left to be developed. Clause 184 gives the power to introduce new brownfield allowances as and when the industry can demonstrate the need for them in specific areas through the information it shares with the Government through the new processes that we have established. Those measures together are a huge boost for investment in the North sea.
We continue to support economic development in the devolved Administrations. Clause 189 devolves the power to the Northern Irish Assembly to set rates of air passenger duty for direct long-haul flights from Northern Ireland, which will help to protect the vital direct air service to the US, supporting tourism and businesses in Northern Ireland.
The Government will not relent as we seek to restore prosperity across the country. We are committed to promoting business enterprise, investment and exports across all parts of the UK. Securing sustainable growth and creating sustainable private sector jobs are the best ways to support families and raise living standards in the long run. Of course, I understand that these remain tough times for many families across the country. That is why the Bill reinforces our commitment to helping the lowest-paid in the country while ensuring that those with the broadest shoulders continue to carry the heaviest burden.
Simon Hughes (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) (LD)
Some of us have been frustrated in recent weeks that that point has been obscured by bigger press reporting of changes with much smaller consequences for the Treasury. Will my right hon. Friend put on the record the relevant impacts and costs, including the number of people benefiting from the threshold changes compared with the number benefiting from the other, much more marginal changes that matter little to most of our constituents, including, I think, his?
Danny Alexander
My right hon. Friend is right that the single most significant measure in the Budget was the largest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance. I will dwell on that in detail in a moment but his point—
Danny Alexander
I shall finish my response to the previous intervention before gladly taking another one.
By far the largest measure in the Budget was the £3.5 billion tax cut for people on low and middle incomes through the largest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance—a massive support to 24 million working people across the country—and my right hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to it.
Rachel Reeves
Will the Chief Secretary confirm the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ numbers showing that with the changes to the personal allowance and other changes—for example, to tax credits—the average family with children will be £511 worse off from this month?
Danny Alexander
No, I will not confirm those figures. According to my figures, 23 million individuals will be better off as a result of the personal allowance change—[Interruption.] A number of families are affected by our tax credit changes but many more benefit from our income tax changes.
Danny Alexander
I will take one more intervention from the hon. Gentleman, who has not cooled down.
Mr Brown
I assure the Chief Secretary that I have cooled down—I do not take much cooling down. In the run-up to the 2010 general election, he and his Liberal colleagues made abundantly clear what they wanted to do with personal allowances to take some people out of paying income tax. Did they honestly expect to do that off the backs of pensioners?
Danny Alexander
I am glad that the hon. Gentleman at least recognises that we made clear in our election manifesto our ambition to raise the income tax personal allowance to £10,000. We have introduced the triple lock for pensions that provides for a more generous uprating system, and some 5 million pensioners pay no income tax at all. For those reasons, many pensioners will be better off.
It is right that the richest in the country contribute a fair and growing share to our collective effort to build a balanced and sustainable economy. Clause 209 increases the bank levy to 0.105% from January 2013 to offset the tax saving that the banks would otherwise have made from a reduced rate of corporation tax. That will ensure that UK banks continue to pay around £2.5 billion in this new tax each and every year, which is more than was raised in a single year by the previous Government’s one-off bank payroll tax.
Clause 211 introduces a new higher rate of stamp duty land tax of 7% on properties worth more than £2 million. That is why next year’s Finance Bill will cap the use of tax reliefs that some wealthy people currently use to reduce their income tax rate to single figures. As we made clear on page 59 of the Budget document, however, we
“will explore with philanthropists ways to ensure this new limit of uncapped reliefs will not impact significantly on charities that depend on large donations.”
Our consultation on the detail will be published in the summer.
Mr David Ruffley (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)
Many charities, including the Suffolk Foundation, estimate that the cap on tax reliefs will lead to a 20% reduction in their charitable donations. Will the Chief Secretary consider exempting charitable donations to UK charities? It would be comparatively inexpensive but terribly important to the charitable sector.
Danny Alexander
It is important that the House is clear about what is being proposed. What we are proposing is a limit, on what are currently uncapped tax reliefs, of £50,000 or a quarter of someone’s income, whichever is the higher; so someone earning £10 million a year can still receive tax relief on donations of £2.5 million to charity each and every year. However, as I say, we will discuss this with philanthropists and charities—indeed, those discussions are ongoing. Some features of the American system, for example, may be attractive, which we will certainly examine and consider as part of that process.
The basic principle that the wealthiest in the land should pay a fair proportion of their income in income tax must be absolutely right, not least because last week we published data showing that last year some of the wealthiest people in the country had reduced their tax bills to below the basic rate of income tax. That is the system that was in place when Labour was in power. I think Opposition Members should have a bit of humility about that, because it means that some millionaires are paying a lower rate of income tax than people earning £20,000 a year. That is why it is fair that we cap tax reliefs, and, in the same way, it is right that we cap benefits. It is right and proper to ensure that the wealthiest in the country should pay a fair share of their income in tax, and that is exactly what we will do.
Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North) (Con)
Can my right hon. Friend confirm that the measures in the Budget will raise five times more than changing the 50p rate?
Danny Alexander
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that. The figures in the Budget book, certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, show that in each and every year, money raised from the wealthiest in the land will dwarf by five times at least the cost of reducing the 50p rate to 45p. In doing that, we are also, for example, clamping down on the avoidance of stamp duty—something that was left as an open door by the previous Government. They seemed to be in favour of a tax system that encouraged avoidance, rather than clamping down on avoidance, ensuring that everyone pays their fair share and thereby raising five times as much money overall, which we can use, for example, to fund the massive cost of the substantial reductions in income tax for people on low and middle incomes in this country.
Mr Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)
How does the right hon. Gentleman square the policy that he has just enunciated with the objectives of the big society, which the Prime Minister is so keen on?
Danny Alexander
With this measure we are trying to strike the right balance between having a proper system of tax relief for charitable donations and ensuring that the wealthiest in this country pay a fair proportion of their income in tax. I would have thought that the hon. Gentleman would support that measure rather than oppose it, particularly when he considers it in the context of the many other measures that we have taken to encourage and support charities and voluntary organisations. For example, we have introduced for the first time gift aid on small donations received by small charities—from shaking tins on the street corner, holding coffee mornings and that sort of thing—which was not done when his party was in office. That will benefit thousands of small charities all around this country, and it is the sort of thing that he should welcome. Likewise, Big Society Capital has been created to help charities and voluntary organisations to raise funds.
Owen Smith (Pontypridd) (Lab)
Before the right hon. Gentleman moves off the 50p rate completely, can he explain to the House why the numbers revealed by the Treasury this morning seem to show that at least 75% of top-rate taxpayers were paying the full rate of tax? How can he explain to his hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Penny Mordaunt) that so little money—the £100 million that is ostensibly in the Budget—was being raised by the 50p rate?
Danny Alexander
First, the hon. Gentleman should study the figures based on the tax system from 2010-11, under the tax rules put in place by his Government. They show, for example, that 6% of those earning over £10 million a year were paying tax at under 10%, that 3% were paying it at 10% to 20%, that 8% were paying it at 20% to 30%, that 12% were paying it at 30% to 40%, and that 72% were paying it at above 40%. The figures do not say that they were paying at the 50% rate. The fact is that the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and the HMRC study, which I am sure the hon. Gentleman has reflected on in great detail, show the most reliable, reasonable, central estimates.
Danny Alexander
No, I want to make some progress, and the hon. Member for Pontypridd (Owen Smith) has already intervened on this point.
Danny Alexander
No, I am going to press on and address the question of the 50p rate. When I have done so, the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Lady will be free to intervene on me again.
Before discussing the 50p rate, I will refer briefly to clause 8, which will remove child benefit from the highest earners. We will withdraw child benefit from those in households earning more than £50,000 in a way that is gradual, so that only those earning more than £60,000 will lose all their child benefit. The measure will help to ensure that the burden of deficit reduction is fairly shared, and by implementing it as we propose, we will deal with the anomalies that have been highlighted.
Mark Field (Cities of London and Westminster) (Con)
I perhaps have more sympathy than many of my colleagues with the idea of the charity tax that is being introduced. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that, in regard to that tax and to child benefit, it is the Government’s intention to try to restore those benefits once the deficit has been paid down and we no longer have to service a debt of £126 billion a year?
Danny Alexander
I thank my hon. Friend for his support, but I cannot confirm that intention at this stage. We have a major ongoing problem with the sustainability of our public finances. We set out in the spending review last year, and reaffirmed in this year’s Budget documentation, the need for further spending—
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Danny Alexander
I am just responding to the previous intervention, if the hon. Lady will just hold her horses for a second.
We confirmed in the Budget document the need for further fiscal consolidation in the years 2015-16 and 2016-17. We cannot simply promise to reverse measures, although that is the policy of the Labour party, which seems quite happy to return to its old habit of high spending and introducing measures that would return this country to the mess that Labour has already put us in.
Sheila Gilmore
Over the Easter recess, did the right hon. Gentleman have a chance to reflect on the question that I asked him during the Budget debate? Why, having listened to people’s concerns about child benefit, was he not prepared to make any concessions to the much poorer group of people who were going to lose their tax credits?
Danny Alexander
I explained in the Budget debate that reforms to tax credits were necessary to deal with the rapidly growing cost of a system that had started out costing £18 billion a year and was now costing £30 billion. It will still cost about £30 billion, but that money will be more focused on those on lower incomes. When we first came into office, we inherited a tax credit system that could pay tax credits to people on £50,000 or £60,000 a year—
Danny Alexander
Let me answer the hon. Lady’s point. Reform of the system was necessary. It was one of the hard decisions that we have had to make in dealing with the massive budget deficit and the huge mess that her party left the British economy in. Recognition on her part that that has to be dealt with would be a welcome way in which to start her next intervention.
Sheila Gilmore
This is a matter of fairness. I am not talking about the tapering off of tax credits at the top end, although I might have a view on that as well. I am talking about the changes that came into force the week before last, which are hitting the very lowest earners—people at the very bottom end, who will not benefit from the changed tax thresholds as they already earn too little to pay income tax. Has the right hon. Gentleman reflected on why he is prepared to make concessions on child benefit to the much better off taxpayers when he is not prepared to reconsider the hit that some of the very lowest earners are taking? Those people might end up having to give up work as a result.
Danny Alexander
I notice from the matters for debate selected by the hon. Lady’s Front-Bench colleagues for the next two days’ consideration of the Bill that restoring child benefit for this country’s highest earners and multimillionaires is a major priority for her party. As for the tax credit changes, in a system where we expect a lone parent to work 16 hours in two days a week to qualify for tax credits, it is reasonable to ask more from a household that has two earners working 24 hours a week in three days. I view that change as reasonable.
Danny Alexander
I shall return to the subject of tax avoidance and I want to make some progress, as I know many hon. Members wish to contribute to the debate. We are taking decisive action to clamp down on avoidance. It is utterly abhorrent that a minority of the population seek to avoid paying their full and fair share of tax, distorting the tax system to the detriment of the vast majority who pay their fair share of taxes in full. Whereas the previous Government allowed avoidance to grow and spread, we are putting a stop to it.
In total, this Finance Bill contains 15 measures to close loopholes and tackle avoidance. For example, clause 212 introduces a new stamp duty rate of 15% to deter those seeking to put their high-value property into a corporate structure to avoid tax—so-called enveloping. In a future Finance Bill, we will put in place an annual charge on properties that are enveloped in this way. Residential properties should be within the stamp duty system, full stop. It is shocking that the previous Government did so little on this matter. We are not being so complacent about the tax position of the most expensive properties in the country.
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Julian Smith
The Yorkshire Post has recently established that the police chief constables’ body ACPO—the Association of Chief Police Officers—has been paying money to ex-chiefs of police forces through special purpose companies. Will the Chief Secretary confirm that the rules on this process will be tightened up under Government proposals?
Danny Alexander
I certainly can confirm that, and I shall bring some proposals before the House in due course. The hon. Gentleman may recall that it was the case of the chief executive of the Student Loans Company that brought this issue to light. We have conducted an investigation into this practice in and across government, which has highlighted the fact that this process is far too widespread. As I say, I shall announce the details in due course, but the hon. Gentleman can rest assured that the Government take this issue very seriously indeed.
Debt buy-back measures announced last month will raise more than £500 million from banks that tried to avoid paying their due tax. In addition, the introduction of the UK-Switzerland agreement into legislation will help to ensure that we can tackle the tax loss from those who put their money into Swiss banks to evade paying tax.
Through the anti-avoidance measures in this year’s Finance Bill, we are already increasing revenue over the next five years by around £l billion and are protecting a further £10 billion that could have been lost. Going even further, we will consult on the potential for a general anti-avoidance rule—a new rule that will at last put the Government one step ahead of the tax avoiders. It is because of these far-reaching reforms that we will raise £500 million more each and every year from the wealthiest in our society. That is five times more than we lose by cutting the ineffective and uncompetitive 50p tax rate.
The 50p rate raised just a fraction of the amount that the previous Government said it would raise, but by cutting the rate to 45p, the direct cost to the Exchequer is only £100 million—a figure certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, which I thought the Labour party welcomed, which described the figure as “central and reasonable”. Instead, the measures we have announced in the Budget will raise considerably more from the wealthy—five times more in total—allowing us to help millions of people on lower incomes to keep more of their earnings through the largest ever increase in the income tax personal allowance.
Rachel Reeves
Figures released by the Treasury today show that of those people earning more than £10 million, 72% pay the full top rate of tax, so can the right hon. Gentleman confirm that they will be receiving on average sums amounting to tens of thousands and in some cases hundreds of thousands of pounds because of the cut in the top rate of tax?
Danny Alexander
As the report from Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise, certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, showed, the cost of reducing the rate was small, precisely because the tax did not yield the amounts we were promised by the previous Government. Instead, by putting our measures in place—the cap on uncapped tax reliefs, clamping down on stamp duty avoidance, the general anti-avoidance rule and many other measures I have mentioned—we will get more money from the wealthiest, who are precisely the people the hon. Lady talks about—
Danny Alexander
No, I want to make some progress. The hon. Lady has intervened twice on this subject, and her colleagues intervened once, and they have not said anything new.
Danny Alexander
I will give way to the representative of the Scottish National party who might have new light to shed on this question.
Stewart Hosie
As a result of the 5p tax cut, the next four years will see a loss of revenue yield amounting to £350 million. About 10 minutes ago, the Chief Secretary himself said that the sustainability of the public finances was a major ongoing issue. Why are the Government prepared to forgo £350 million over the next four years in order to deliver a millionaires’ tax cut?
Danny Alexander
Very simply, for the reason that I have given several times today. We are raising five times more from the same group of people, which helps us to deliver the policy which we firmly believe is the best way to support working people on low and middle incomes and help them to keep more of what they earn.
Frank Dobson (Holborn and St Pancras) (Lab)
Will the Chief Secretary give way?
Danny Alexander
No. I have been speaking for a long time, and I am going to make some progress now.
We have set ourselves the goal of raising the personal income tax-free allowance to £10,000. Clause 3 increases the personal allowance this year to £8,105. Together with the previous increase, that will lift more than a million low-income earners out of income tax completely. Moreover, we are going further and faster. In the Budget we announced the largest ever increase in the amount that people can earn tax-free—an increase, from next April, of £1,100 to £9,205. That tax cut will be worth £3.5 billion every year to working families. It will benefit more than 23 million people, and will be worth £220 in cash terms and £170 in real terms to every basic rate taxpayer. That is the biggest income tax cut for a generation. Taken with the previous increases, it means that this coalition Government will have halved the income tax paid by someone who works full time on the minimum wage, and lifted 2 million people out of tax altogether. We are living up to our commitment to support hard-working people and families across the country.
We are also reforming the age-related allowances available to those born before 6 April 1948. We recognise that pensioners need additional help, which is why we introduced the triple lock on pensions. The basic state pension will increase by 5.2% in April 2012, which is £127 more than was planned by the last Government and which constitutes the largest ever cash increase. Under our plans for age-related allowances, no pensioners will lose out in cash terms. Instead, given the huge increase in the personal allowance and the reduced difference between it and the age-related allowance, we will simplify the system. Those born before 6 April 1948 will benefit from the age-related allowance or the personal allowance, whichever is greater. That change will remove, in time, the complicated taper which the Public Accounts Committee called
“complex and hard to understand”.
This is a substantial Bill. It demonstrates the ambition that we need to secure a tax system and an economy that are built on fairness, that reward hard work, and that restore our private sector’s competitiveness. Even with that scale of ambition, however, the Bill makes substantial progress in simplifying our tax system and living up to our commitment to improving the way in which the Government develop tax policy. More than 75% of the measures in the Bill were announced in the 2011 Budget, with more than 400 pages of legislation published for consultation and more than 450 comments received in return. Through that openness, transparency and consultation, we are committed to building a simple and stable tax system that is easy to understand and easy to comply with. That is why we are addressing a number of loopholes and anomalies in the VAT system—introducing an anti-forestalling charge in clause 195—and why the Bill cuts large swathes of the tax code by implementing recommendations from the Office of Tax Simplification. I thank John Whiting and his team for their excellent work in that regard.
The Government are taking decisive action to restore our stability and return the country to prosperity. Our No. 1 priority remains dealing with the last Government’s legacy of crippling deficit and debt in a fair and sustainable way. Through this Finance Bill, we are continuing to ensure that the richest carry the heaviest burden. We are supporting businesses so that they can restore our global competitiveness, and we are supporting hard-working families on low and middle incomes. I commend the Bill to the House.