Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) cigarettes and (b) pouches of tobacco smoked in the UK that have had full tax paid on them; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information requested is available within Table 3.5 and Table 3.6, chapter 3, of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)’s publication Measuring Tax Gaps: 2018 Edition, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps. HMRC estimates that tax and duty was paid on approximately 29.5 billion cigarettes in 2016-17 and 6.4 million kg of hand rolling tobacco, representing 85% of the total cigarette market and 72% of the hand rolling tobacco market.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was received in tariffs for goods imported into the UK from non-EU sources in the last year for which figures are available; and how much of that was sent on to the EU.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In accordance with EU regulations, Member States contribute 80% of customs duties collected on non-EU imports. The UK consequently retains 20% of these duties to cover the costs of collection. In 2017, the UK contributed £3.2bn in customs duties to the EU.Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the amount of money that would accrue to the public purse annually as a result of tariffs on imports from non-EU countries after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The amount of customs revenue collected from non-EU countries will be dependent on the rates of import duty set. In the event of “no deal” the Government will make an announcement, once a decision is finalised, and publish new UK duty rates, which will apply equally to all countries.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on Libyan assets frozen in the UK that were deposited by (a) the Libyan Government and (b) non-government organisations or individuals; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) undertakes an annual frozen asset review. This requires all persons that hold or control funds or economic resources that are owned, held or controlled by a designated person and subject to UK financial sanctions to report them to OFSI. OFSI also gathers information through the exercise of its statutory powers.
OFSI’s Annual Review provides an aggregate figure for the value of Libyan frozen funds held by UK institutions (£12.061 billion at close of business on 29 September 2017). HM Treasury cannot, however, provide detailed information regarding frozen assets held by specific designated persons.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of goods being imported into the UK from (a) other EU and (b) non-EU countries are physically checked when entering the UK.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The EU is a Customs Union and the 28 member countries form a single territory for customs purposes. This means that no customs duties are paid on goods moving between EU Member States and goods that have been legally imported can circulate throughout the EU with no further customs checks. As a consequence Border Force do not routinely conduct customs compliance checks on EU goods.
For imports from the rest of the world, HMRC reported to the European Commission that 1.3% of standard customs declarations were subject to physical examinations for customs compliance purposes in 2017.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse has been of (a) Gift Aid and (b) tax relief on charity donations declared on tax returns in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
HMRC publishes information about the estimated cost of Gift Aid and tax reliefs on charitable donations in “Charitable Donations and Tax Reliefs Statistics”.Column (a) in Table 1 below shows the estimated cost to the public pursue of Gift Aid. Gift Aid is paid directly to charities on donations by Income Tax taxpayers.
Column (b) in Table 1 represents the estimated cost to the public purse of the claims for tax reliefs on charitable donations by higher and additional Income Tax payers, primarily declared through the Self Assessment tax return.
Table 1: Estimated of Income Tax reliefs for Gift Aid:
£m | (a) | (b) |
Tax Year | Gift Aid paid to charities | Higher / Additional rate relief on Gift Aid donations paid to individuals |
2012-13 | 1040 | 450 |
2013-14 | 1050 | 410 |
2014-15 | 1190 | 480 |
2015-16 | 1260 | 500 |
2016-17 | 1270 | 520 |
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will instruct HMRC to made individual assessments on the tax status of non-income tax paying people who withdraw money from their pension pots.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The pension flexibility rules allow individuals with money purchase pension savings to withdraw lump sums as they wish from age 55.
Individuals can now choose whether to take the entire funds in one lump sum, 25% of which is tax free and 75% taxable at their marginal rate of income tax as pension income. If they would prefer to take their savings in a number of smaller amounts, 25% of each payment is tax free and 75% taxable.
Pension income is taxable under PAYE. If the pension payer has a tax code from HMRC they should operate that code in the normal way. If no tax code is held, the emergency code should be used. The emergency code gives a 1/12 of the personal allowance and each of the tax bands.
If this means that the individual pays more tax than is ultimately due, HMRC have put in place a process for individuals to submit an in year claim for the overpaid tax. These claims are usually paid within 30 days. Anyone who does not make a claim, would automatically receive any overpaid tax after HMRC makes their annual reconciliation of individual tax records.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have been registered as self-employed in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The answer is provided in the table below.
Tax year | Number of individuals (thousands) |
2004-05 | 4,640 |
2005-06 | 4,710 |
2006-07 | 4,840 |
2007-08 | 4,890 |
2008-09 | not available |
2009-10 | 4,880 |
2010-11 | 5,110 |
2011-12 | 5,490 |
2012-13 | 5,500 |
2013-14 | 5,620 |
2014-15 | 5,600 |
Notes on the Table
Individuals are included here according to whether they completed Sole Trader and/or Partnership schedules in the Self Assessment Main Tax Return, or if they completed relevant parts of a Short Tax Return. Such information is required for all sole traders, and for all shares in partnerships, trading at any time in the tax year.
These estimates are taken from published National Statistics table 3.10, part of HMRC’s Personal Incomes Statistics, for which 2014-15 is the latest available tax year.
The Personal Incomes Statistics are based on the annual Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI), which is based on sample data. As is the case with the published Personal Incomes Statistics, these figures are statistical estimates and will be subject to sampling variation.
For more information about the SPI, please refer to:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-incomes-statistics
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of the treatment of electric vehicles with a list price of more than £40,000 under the new vehicle excise duty system on the uptake of electric vehicles.
Answered by Andrew Jones
We do not yet have data on how many electric vehicles have been registered since 1 April 2017, the date from which the new VED system applies. However, 5,274 battery electric cars were registered in the first four months of 2017, compared to 10,242 in the whole of 2016.
Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to review the workings of the Personal Injury Discount Scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government is considering how to respond to the consultation. It would not be appropriate to comment until a decision has been made on the way ahead.