Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) land and (b) property assets are held through UK trusts registered with the Trust Registration Services; and what the aggregate value is of (i) land and (ii) property assets held via trusts.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I can only provide a partial answer to these questions, as the information held on the Trust Registration Service in relation to land and property holdings varies depending on the category of registration. Additionally, the Trust Registration Service does not record information on indirect holdings of land by trustees.
From May 2021 (when the Trust Registration Service was expanded to accept registrations from non-taxable trusts) to 5 April 2024 (the end of the last tax year), c.56,000 trusts notified the Trust Registration Service that the trustees have acquired a direct interest in UK land or property on or after 6 October 2020. Of this figure, c.55,000 are UK resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type A') and c.1000 are non-UK resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type B’ or ‘Type C’).
Taxable trusts, including those registered before May 2021, are required to provide a statement of assets held at the time of registration, including UK land or property. However, analysing this information to arrive at a total number and value of land and property assets held by these trusts would carry a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many trusts registered with the Trusts Registration Service hold UK land or property via a type (a) A, (b) B and (c) C trust.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I can only provide a partial answer to these questions, as the information held on the Trust Registration Service in relation to land and property holdings varies depending on the category of registration. Additionally, the Trust Registration Service does not record information on indirect holdings of land by trustees.
From May 2021 (when the Trust Registration Service was expanded to accept registrations from non-taxable trusts) to 5 April 2024 (the end of the last tax year), c.56,000 trusts notified the Trust Registration Service that the trustees have acquired a direct interest in UK land or property on or after 6 October 2020. Of this figure, c.55,000 are UK resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type A') and c.1000 are non-UK resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type B’ or ‘Type C’).
Taxable trusts, including those registered before May 2021, are required to provide a statement of assets held at the time of registration, including UK land or property. However, analysing this information to arrive at a total number and value of land and property assets held by these trusts would carry a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the trusts registered with the Trusts Registration Service hold UK land or property.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I can only provide a partial answer to these questions, as the information held on the Trust Registration Service in relation to land and property holdings varies depending on the category of registration. Additionally, the Trust Registration Service does not record information on indirect holdings of land by trustees.
From May 2021 (when the Trust Registration Service was expanded to accept registrations from non-taxable trusts) to 5 April 2024 (the end of the last tax year), c.56,000 trusts notified the Trust Registration Service that the trustees have acquired a direct interest in UK land or property on or after 6 October 2020. Of this figure, c.55,000 are UK resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type A') and c.1000 are non-UK resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type B’ or ‘Type C’).
Taxable trusts, including those registered before May 2021, are required to provide a statement of assets held at the time of registration, including UK land or property. However, analysing this information to arrive at a total number and value of land and property assets held by these trusts would carry a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HMRC's document entitled Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition: tax gap estimates for 2022 to 2023, updated on 20 June 2024, if she will take steps to widen the scope of the published offshore tax gap statistics.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is assessing the feasibility of extending the published estimate of the tax gap arising from undisclosed foreign income, including engaging with academics.
HMRC is determined to address offshore tax non-compliance. At Autumn Budget 2024, the government published a supplementary document outlining HMRC’s approach to addressing offshore tax non-compliance, as part of the government’s wider efforts to close the tax gap: Tackling offshore tax non-compliance - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people work in the large business directorate in HMRC.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As of 31 March 2024, HMRC’s Large Business Directorate had a total of 2422 full time equivalent staff working within the directorate which includes 169 Customer Compliance Managers.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many customer compliance managers there are in the HMRC large business directorate.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As of 31 March 2024, HMRC’s Large Business Directorate had a total of 2422 full time equivalent staff working within the directorate which includes 169 Customer Compliance Managers.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether professional body supervisors will share risk assessments of Trusts and Corporate Service Providers with Companies House for (a) assessing and (b) granting authorised Corporate Service Provider status, in the context of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations 2017 require Professional Body Supervisors (PBSs) to identify and assess the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing in their supervised populations.
An integrated reporting mechanism established by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) provides the basis for PBSs and Companies House to exchange relevant information, including risk assessments for use in their review of Authorised Corporate Service Provider (‘ACSP’) applications.
In 2024 the Treasury consulted on amendments to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations to further improve the information sharing and cooperation mechanisms between Companies House and Professional Body Supervisors.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to require public country-by-country reporting by multinational corporations on (a) taxation and (b) where companies are (i) trading and (ii) making profits.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is at the forefront of Pillar 2 implementation, ensuring that large multinational enterprises are subject to an effective tax rate of at least 15% in each jurisdiction they operate. The government does not have plans to make country-by-country reports public, but will keep the position under review.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2024 to Question 4157 on Financial Services, if she will set a target date for making a decision on the creation of a Financial Inclusion Strategy.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
Ensuring all individuals have access to the appropriate financial services and products they need is a key priority for Government and is vital to supporting people’s financial resilience and wellbeing. It is also an essential part of achieving inclusive growth and ensuring individuals are able to fully participate in the economy.
I will be providing an update on Government’s financial inclusion agenda in due course.