Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of calculating national insurance contributions using the combined income from multiple employers.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
National Insurance Contributions (NICs) are assessed on a pay-period basis per each employment. Requiring the aggregation of earnings for NICs of people doing more than one job with multiple employers would be administratively complex, increasing the burden on employers.
However, the Government keeps all taxes, including NICs, under review.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has had recent discussions with relevant stakeholders on providing increased financial support for pubs in the Autumn Statement 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury ministers and officials regularly engage with stakeholders as an important part of the policy development process.
The Government believes that pubs make an important contribution to our culture, fostering a sense of place and community, and the UK economy.
Our ‘Brexit Pubs Guarantee,’ confirms that the duty on a draught pint will always be lower than its equivalent in a supermarket. And the new alcohol duty system implemented in August of this year included a new Draught Relief that provides a significant duty discount on alcohol sold in containers of 20 litres or more in the on-trade.
In addition, pubs will benefit from business rates support worth £13.6bn over the next five years, including a more generous Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief scheme that has increased from 50% to 75% relief in 2023-24.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment for the implication for his policies of the changing charities' status on the list of goods and services set out in the EU Annex III of the Principal VAT Directive; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing VAT rates for charities on their energy bills.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Subject to a transition period until April 2024 for existing qualifying charities, from 15 March 2023 the availability of UK tax reliefs for charities is restricted to UK charities only. The application of VAT reliefs for charities will not be affected.
As the UK is no longer part of the EU, it now enjoys greater freedom when setting rates of VAT than was allowed under the VAT Directive. Charities already benefit from the reduced rate of VAT where their fuel and power are used for non-business purposes.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing fuel duty paid on red diesel.
Answered by Simon Clarke
At Spring Statement 2022 in response to fuel prices reaching record levels, the government announced a temporary 12-month cut to the full rate of duty on petrol and diesel of 5p per litre and an equivalent percentage cut on the rates for rebated fuels. Overall, this is the largest cash-terms cut across all fuel duty rates at once, ever, and is only the second time in 20 years that main rates of petrol and diesel have been cut. This cut represents savings for households and businesses, including those that use red diesel, worth around £2.4 billion in 2022-23.
All taxes, including fuel duty, remain under review and any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the personal allowance in proportion to rises in the National Minimum Wage to ensure as much tax-free income as possible is earned by people on the lowest wages; and what steps he is taking increase the personal allowance to protect as many as people as possible on the lowest earnings from the effects of inflation.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government remains committed to protecting the living standards of the lowest earners and has taken action to do this. Increases to the real terms value of the Personal Allowance by nearly 50 per cent in the last decade mean that, compared to 2010-11, a typical basic rate taxpayer will pay over £800 less Income Tax in 2021-22.
The Government must also ensure the sustainability of the public finances to fund excellent public services and has done so in a fair and progressive way by maintaining the Income Tax Personal Allowance and Higher Rate Threshold at 2021-22 levels. The 20 per cent highest income households will contribute 15 times that of the 20 per cent lowest income households.
At £12,570, the Personal Allowance is the highest basic personal tax allowance of all countries in the G20, and it remains one of the most generous internationally.
On 1 April 2021, following the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission (LPC), workers on the National Living Wage saw a 2.2 per cent pay increase to £8.91 an hour. The Government remains committed to supporting low paid workers and looks forward to receiving the recommendations for the 2022 National Living and Minimum Wage rates from the independent LPC this Autumn.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the briefing note published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on 31 March 2020, and its finding that public spending per person in Scotland is over 30 per cent higher than equivalent English funding, if he will review the Barnett formula to take account of (a) recent trends in the level of Scotland’s population growth and (b) the cost of living in that country.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The government sets out funding arrangements for the Devolved Administrations in the Statement of Funding Policy (SFP), which was most recently updated at the 2020 Spending Review and is kept under review. The 2020 SFP states that the Barnett formula continues to perform a key part of the arrangements for pooling and sharing risks and resources across the UK. This means that a downturn in one area can be supported by other areas, rather than being dependent on local economic conditions – and a windfall can be shared with other areas. It ensures the devolved administrations receive a population share of changes in relevant funding consistent with the wider principles set out in the SFP.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make a root-and-branch assessment of the implications of the business models of large internet companies for his policies on state aid and tax avoidance.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Ensuring an effective solution to the challenges related to the taxation of the digital economy is a priority for the Government. In April 2020, the Government introduced a Digital Services Tax which ensures digital businesses pay UK tax that reflects the value they derive from UK users. The Government is also strongly supportive of OECD negotiations which seek to come to a global consensus agreement on the taxation of the digital economy.
Regarding subsidy control, following the end of the transition period, the UK also has the freedom to design a new domestic regime. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy recently published a consultation seeking views on the approach the Government should take.
Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the minimum income guarantee.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
It is for Local Authorities to set Minimum Income Guarantee rates in their area, subject to nationally mandated floors. At the 2019 Spending Round we gave LAs access to up to an additional £1.5bn for social care, on top of existing grants. More widely, we will urgently seek a cross-government consensus to bring forward proposals and legislation for long-term care reform.Asked by: Duncan Baker (Conservative - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether sustainable farming activities under the Agriculture Bill will be deemed active practices and benefit farmers for the purposes of VAT and inheritance tax legislation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC will consider the tax implications of any detailed proposals.