Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of introducing VAT to to medicines provided free under Early Access Medicines Scheme programmes on pharmaceutical companies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the honourable member to the answer that I gave to PQ UIN: 87051.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her (a) Department and (b) HMRC have conducted on the potential impact on clinical trial numbers from the introduction of VAT to medicines provided free under Early Access Medicines Scheme programmes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Taxation is a vital source of revenue which helps to fund public services.
Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) allows patients access to free medicines for life threatening conditions before receiving full NHS approval.
Under UK VAT law, some transactions where no money changes hands are treated as if a supply has been made – these are called deemed supplies. This is to keep the system fair. Whether VAT applies to medicines or treatments provided for free under the EAMS will depend on the precise facts of the case. In certain circumstances the giving of goods away for free can be outside the scope of VAT. Where the supply is within the scope of VAT a relief may apply, meaning the supply can be made VAT free.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment (a) her Department and (b) HMRC have conducted on the potential impact on patient access to innovative medicines from the introduction of VAT to medicines provided free under Early Access Medicines Scheme programmes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Taxation is a vital source of revenue which helps to fund public services.
Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) allows patients access to free medicines for life threatening conditions before receiving full NHS approval.
Under UK VAT law, some transactions where no money changes hands are treated as if a supply has been made – these are called deemed supplies. This is to keep the system fair. Whether VAT applies to medicines or treatments provided for free under the EAMS will depend on the precise facts of the case. In certain circumstances the giving of goods away for free can be outside the scope of VAT. Where the supply is within the scope of VAT a relief may apply, meaning the supply can be made VAT free.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of reforming the (a) Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme to improve support for firms in the post-start-up phase.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is focused on making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and understands the key role of a competitive investment environment in achieving economic growth.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government committed to creating a positive environment for entrepreneurship and business investment. We are working with leading entrepreneurs and venture capital firms on how policy supports that, including the role of the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to expand the (a) Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme scheme to support older companies seeking increased investment.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is focused on making the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, and understands the key role of a competitive investment environment in achieving economic growth.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government committed to creating a positive environment for entrepreneurship and business investment. We are working with leading entrepreneurs and venture capital firms on how policy supports that, including the role of the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the application of VAT for (a) medicines and (b) treatments provided for medical (i) trials or (ii) compassionate use under the Early Access to Medicines Scheme.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The DSIT Secretary of State has not met with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss this particular matter.
There has been no recent law or policy change in this area.
Application of VAT is determined on a case-by-case basis depending on specific details of the nature of the supplies. This includes medicines or treatments provided for free under the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS). In certain circumstances the giving of goods away for free can be outside the scope of VAT. Where the supply is within the scope of VAT a relief may apply, meaning the supply can be made VAT free.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to support access to growth capital for scaling UK tech firms.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT delivers specific policy interventions to unlock growth investment for UK science and technology firms, as well as contributing deep science and technology expertise to initiatives led by others, such as the British Business Bank’s £4bn Industrial Strategy Growth Capital Fund. A second cohort of Science and Technology Venture Capital Fellows will commence training in November, receiving specialist training overseen by DSIT to enable them to launch deep-tech venture capital funds. And, DSIT sponsors the National Security Strategic Investment Fund’s investment arm, making direct investments into companies developing strategically-important dual-use technologies, with increased funding up to £330m for 2026-30.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment with the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the potential merits of creating a dedicated scale-up investment scheme.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Chancellor and Secretary of State wrote on 20 October to the British Business Bank, setting the Bank’s strategic priorities over the next five years. These include an objective to “support our most promising businesses in the Industrial Strategy priority sectors to scale and stay here.”
The letter notes “Through a two-thirds increase in its annual investments, the Bank will crowd in tens of billions of pounds of private capital with a particular focus on ensuring that our most promising scale-up businesses can access the capital they need to realise their ambitions here in the UK.”
The full text is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-strategic-priorities-to-the-british-business-bank
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps with HM Revenue and Customs to help ensure that a(a) medicines and (b) treatments provided under the Early Access to Medicines Scheme are not subjected to (i) direct or (ii) indirect VAT.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Taxation is a vital source of revenue which helps to fund public services.
Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) allows patients access to free medicines for life threatening conditions before receiving full NHS approval.
Under UK VAT law, some transactions where no money changes hands are treated as if a supply has been made – these are called deemed supplies. This is to keep the system fair. If a business has reclaimed VAT on costs (like making or importing goods), it should not avoid accounting VAT when those goods leave the business for free.
Whether VAT applies to medicines or treatments provided for free under the EAMS will depend on the precise facts of the case. In certain circumstances the giving of goods away for free can be outside the scope of VAT. Where the supply is within the scope of VAT a relief may apply, meaning the supply can be made VAT free.
The Government keeps all taxes under review but there are no plans to change the law for Deemed Supplies.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will commission guidance from HM Revenue and Customs clarifying whether medicines supplied under the Early Access Medicines Scheme fall outside the scope of VAT Deemed Supply rules.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Under UK VAT law, some transactions where no money changes hands are treated as if a supply has been made – these are called deemed supplies.This is to keep the system fair if a business has reclaimed VAT on costs (like making or importing goods), it should not avoid accounting for VAT when those goods leave the business for free.
Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) allows patients access to free medicines for life threatening conditions before receiving full NHS approval. Whether VAT applies to medicines or treatments provided for free under the EAMS will depend on the precise facts of the case. Where the supply of free medicine under the EAMS meets the criteria of a deemed supply, VAT will be due.
HMRC considers that the guidance around these rules is clear and long-established.