Finance (No. 2) Bill

Eleanor Laing Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 1st December 2021 Commons Chamber

Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.

[The Chairman of Ways and Means (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Clauses 6 to 8 stand part.

That schedule 1 be the First schedule to the Bill.

Amendment 5, in clause 12, page 10, line 44, at end insert—

‘, and at the end of section 32(1) insert “, but eligibility for the increased maximum annual allowance from 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2023 is available only to businesses which can demonstrate that they have taken steps to reduce carbon emissions within their own business models and have set out further steps for how they plan to reduce carbon emissions towards a net zero goal”.’

This amendment would restrict access to the extended temporary increase in annual investment allowance to businesses that support transition to “net-zero”.

Amendment 6, page 10, line 44, at end insert —

‘, and at the end of section 32(1) insert “, but eligibility for the increased maximum annual allowance from 1 January 2022 to 31 March 2023 is available only to businesses which do not have a history of tax avoidance”.’

This amendment would restrict access to the extended temporary increase in annual investment allowance to businesses that do not have a history of tax avoidance.

Amendment 4, page 11, line 10, at end insert—

‘(3) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, no later than 5 April 2022, lay before the House of Commons a report—

(a) analysing the fiscal and economic effects of the temporary increase in annual investment allowance, and the changes in those effects which it estimates will occur as a result of the provisions of this section, in respect of—

(i) each NUTS 1 statistical region of England and England as a whole,

(ii) Scotland,

(iii) Wales, and

(iv) Northern Ireland; and

(b) assessing how the temporary increase in annual investment allowance is furthering efforts to mitigate climate change, and any differences in the benefit of this funding in respect of—

(i) each NUTS 1 statistical region of England and England as a whole,

(ii) Scotland,

(iii) Wales, and

(iv) Northern Ireland.’

This amendment would require the Chancellor of the Exchequer to analyse the impact of changes proposed in clause 12 in terms of impact on the economy and geographical reach and to assess the impact of the temporary increase in the annual investment allowance on efforts to mitigate climate change.

Amendment 7, page 11, line 10, at end insert—

‘(3) In paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 13 of that Act—

(a) after “second straddling period is” insert “the greater of (a)”; and

(b) after “of that sub-paragraph” add “and (b) the amount (if any) by which the maximum allowance under section 51A of CAA 2001 had there been no temporary increase in the allowance exceeds the annual investment allowance qualifying expenditure incurred before 1 April 2023.”’

This amendment would amend the transitional provisions for the reversion of the AIA to £200,000 on 1 April 2023, to ensure that smaller businesses with lower levels of qualifying capital expenditure are not disadvantaged by having their effective AIA limit restricted to significantly less than £200,000 for a period.

Clause 12 stand part.

New clause 1—Review of the impact on revenues from tax on dividend income—

‘The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within six months of the passing of this Act, publish an assessment of the impact on revenues from tax on dividend income of increasing the rates set out in section 8 of ITA 2007 by—

(a) 1.25%,

(b) 2.5%, and

(c) 3.75%.’

This new clause requires an assessment of what extra revenue would be derived by increasing the rates of tax on dividend income by different amounts.

New clause 2—Review of the impact on revenues from banking surcharge—

‘(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within six months of the passing of this Act, publish an assessment of revenues from the banking surcharge.

(2) This review must consider—

(a) the total revenue raised by the banking surcharge since its introduction,

(b) the total public expenditure on supporting the banking sector since 2008, and

(c) an assessment of risks to the banking sector in the future including the likelihood of further public support being required.’

This new clause requires an assessment of the banking surcharge in the context of the cost of public support to banks since the financial crisis and an assessment of the risk of the need for further public support in future.

New clause 3—Review of the impact of the extension of temporary increase in annual investment allowance—

‘The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within three months of the end of tax year 2022-23, publish a review of decisions by companies to invest in the UK in 2022-23, which must report on which companies, broken down by size, sector, and country of ownership, have benefited from the annual investment allowance; and this assessment must also assess the merits of the existence of the superdeduction in light of the AIA.’

This new clause requires a review of which companies have benefited from the Annual Investment Allowance in 2022-23, broken down by size, sector, and country of ownership, and an assessment of the merits of the superdeduction in light of the AIA.

New clause 8—Review of changes to taxation of dividend income—

‘(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, not later than six months after the passing of the Act, lay before the House of Commons a review of the fiscal and economic effects of the changes in the taxation of dividend income resulting from the provisions of section 4 of this Act.

(2) The review under subsection (1) must also include an assessment of the fiscal and economic effects of—

(a) removing the personal dividend taxation allowance, and

(b) amending the dividend income rates of taxation to match the existing rates of taxation of earnings.’

This new clause would require the Government to report to the House on the fiscal and economic effects of the changes made by clause 4 to the rates of taxation of dividend income, and also to assess the effects of other changes to the taxation of dividend income.

New clause 10—Assessment of annual investment allowance—

‘The Government must publish within 12 months of this Act coming into effect an assessment of—

(a) how much the changes to the annual investment allowance under section 12 of this Act will affect GDP in the event of the Finance Act coming into effect, and

(b) how the same changes would have affected GDP had the UK—

(i) remained in the European Union, and

(ii) left the European Union without a Future Trade and Investment Partnership.’

This new clause would require an assessment of the effects of the provisions in clause 12 on GDP in different scenarios.

New clause 11—Review of temporary increase in annual investment allowance—

‘The Government must publish within 12 months of this Act coming into effect an assessment of

(a) the size, number, and location of companies claiming the increased annual investment allowance,

(b) the impact of this relief upon levels of capital investment, and

(c) the percentage of total business investments that were covered by this relief in 2019, 2020 & 2021.’

This new clause would require an assessment of the take-up and impact of the temporary increase in the AIA.

New clause 16—Assessment of revenue effects of increases in the rates of tax on dividend income—

‘The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, no later than 31 January 2022, lay before the House of Commons an assessment of the effects on tax revenues of—

(a) the provision of section 4, and

(b) increasing the rates of tax on dividend income to the default rates of income tax.’

New clause 17—Review of impact of the abolition of basis periods—

‘(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within six months of the passing of this Act, review the impact of the abolition of basis periods.

(2) The review must consider the effects of the abolition on—

(a) farmers and other seasonal businesses,

(b) sole traders, and

(c) partnerships.

(3) The review must consider the effects of the abolition in respect of—

(a) each region of England and England as a whole,

(b) Scotland,

(c) Wales, and

(d) Northern Ireland.

(4) In this section, “region” has the same meaning as that used by the Office for National Statistics.’

This new clause would require a report on the effects of the abolition of basis periods on particular sectors, including farming and other seasonal businesses, sole traders and partnerships.