Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment his Department has undertaken on the potential effect on electric car take-up of imposing a VAT levy on the charging of electric vehicles for private use.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In order to keep costs down for families, the supply of electricity for domestic use, including charging electric vehicles at home, attracts the reduced rate of VAT (5 per cent).
Electricity supplied at EV charging points in public places is subject to the standard rate of VAT (20 per cent). There has been no change to this policy and the Government has no plans to review these provisions.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives of HMRC on the classification of long-term and short-term vessels under the capital allowance scheme for commercial maritime vessels.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Treasury officials are in regular contact with HMRC colleagues. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
HMRC do not classify which assets should be written down at the main or special rate of writing down allowances. Instead, businesses should identify whether an asset they have acquired has a useful economic life (UEL) of more or less than 25 years when new. This UEL test for plant and machinery should be applied on the asset as a whole, rather than individual components; since for tax purposes the asset is depreciated as a single unit.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions officials in his Department have had with relevant stakeholders on HMRC’s enforcement of classification of long-term and short-term assets for commercial maritime vessels.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Treasury officials are in regular contact with HMRC colleagues. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
HMRC do not classify which assets should be written down at the main or special rate of writing down allowances. Instead, businesses should identify whether an asset they have acquired has a useful economic life (UEL) of more or less than 25 years when new. This UEL test for plant and machinery should be applied on the asset as a whole, rather than individual components; since for tax purposes the asset is depreciated as a single unit.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that people can continue to access cash; and if he will publish the Government's timeframe for bringing forward legislative proposals to protect access to cash.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has committed to legislate to protect access to cash and ensure that the UK’s cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term. To progress this work, the Government published a Call for Evidence on Access to Cash in October 2020. The Call for Evidence sought views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system. The Government is considering responses to the Call for Evidence and will set out next steps in due course.
The Government created the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group in 2019, which has provided a forum for the public bodies to formally co-ordinate respective approaches to access to cash. This is chaired by HM Treasury and attended by the Bank of England, Payment Systems Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority. The members published an update on the actions of its members in July 2020. This included work led by the PSR and FCA to develop a comprehensive picture of cash access infrastructure across the UK.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Treasury has been working closely with regulators and industry to ensure customers continue to have access to essential banking services, including cash, while also protecting the safety of staff and customers. This has meant the vast majority of people have been able to access cash through the pandemic.
With regards to ATMs, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network) has existing arrangements in place to protect free-to-use ATMs that do not have another free-to-use ATM or Post Office within one kilometre. LINK’s members have also made £5 million available to fund ATMs at the request of communities with poor access to cash. The Payment Systems Regulator has powers to regulate LINK and is holding it to account over its commitment to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of Which?’s recent research showing a nationwide reduction in free-to-use cashpoints; and if he will publish the Government's timeframe for bringing forward legislative proposals to protect access to cash.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has committed to legislate to protect access to cash and ensure that the UK’s cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term. To progress this work, the Government published a Call for Evidence on Access to Cash in October 2020. The Call for Evidence sought views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system. The Government is considering responses to the Call for Evidence and will set out next steps in due course.
The Government created the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group in 2019, which has provided a forum for the public bodies to formally co-ordinate respective approaches to access to cash. This is chaired by HM Treasury and attended by the Bank of England, Payment Systems Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority. The members published an update on the actions of its members in July 2020. This included work led by the PSR and FCA to develop a comprehensive picture of cash access infrastructure across the UK.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Treasury has been working closely with regulators and industry to ensure customers continue to have access to essential banking services, including cash, while also protecting the safety of staff and customers. This has meant the vast majority of people have been able to access cash through the pandemic.
With regards to ATMs, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network) has existing arrangements in place to protect free-to-use ATMs that do not have another free-to-use ATM or Post Office within one kilometre. LINK’s members have also made £5 million available to fund ATMs at the request of communities with poor access to cash. The Payment Systems Regulator has powers to regulate LINK and is holding it to account over its commitment to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals on protecting access to cash; if he will publish the Government's timeframe for bringing forward those proposals; and what plans the Government has to ensure that cash remains a viable payment method for people who are reliant on it.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has committed to legislate to protect access to cash and ensure that the UK’s cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term. To progress this work, the Government published a Call for Evidence on Access to Cash in October 2020. The Call for Evidence sought views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system. The Government is considering responses to the Call for Evidence and will set out next steps in due course.
The Government created the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group in 2019, which has provided a forum for the public bodies to formally co-ordinate respective approaches to access to cash. This is chaired by HM Treasury and attended by the Bank of England, Payment Systems Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority. The members published an update on the actions of its members in July 2020. This included work led by the PSR and FCA to develop a comprehensive picture of cash access infrastructure across the UK.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Treasury has been working closely with regulators and industry to ensure customers continue to have access to essential banking services, including cash, while also protecting the safety of staff and customers. This has meant the vast majority of people have been able to access cash through the pandemic.
With regards to ATMs, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network) has existing arrangements in place to protect free-to-use ATMs that do not have another free-to-use ATM or Post Office within one kilometre. LINK’s members have also made £5 million available to fund ATMs at the request of communities with poor access to cash. The Payment Systems Regulator has powers to regulate LINK and is holding it to account over its commitment to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of aligning the retail price index with the consumer prices index on pensions for (a) women and (b) people on defined benefit pension schemes.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
On 25 November 2020, the Government and UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) published their response to the consultation on the timing of reform to the Retail Prices Index (RPI). Owing to shortcomings in its calculation, UKSA intends to bring the methods and data sources of the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) into RPI.
The Government and UKSA are mindful of the widespread use of RPI in the economy, and, as such, sought views in the consultation on the broader impacts of reform. The Government and UKSA received approximately 550 responses from members of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes whose benefits are linked to RPI.
It is apparent that some DB pension scheme members will be affected by UKSA’s reform. The effect of reform on the members of such schemes will depend on whether their benefits are linked to RPI under the trust deed and rules of the scheme. As noted in the consultation response document, the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) estimates that the average reduction in lifetime income from an individual’s RPI-linked pension post-retirement could be 4 per cent for a woman and 5 per cent for a man. However, the PPI estimates that women will generally experience a greater lifetime reduction in overall pension benefit, as they live longer than men on average.
The announcement in the response by the Chancellor and UKSA Chair means that reform will not be implemented before 2030. The Government keeps the occupational pensions system under review and will continue to do so.
In making its decision (with regard to the timing of reform) the Government has had due regard to and complied with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty as laid out in the Equality Act 2010
For further information please see the consultation response at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/a-consultation-on-the-reform-to-retail-prices-index-rpi-methodology.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with his Cabinet colleagues on extending the hospitality sector's temporary reduction of VAT from 20 to 5 per cent to the service sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors, and will run until 31 March 2021.
This policy will cost over £2 billion. The Government keeps all taxes under review, and any future decisions on tax policy will be made at Budget.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to review the recent reduction of Private Residence Relief to take into account (a) regional variations in the length of time it can take to sell a residence and (b) the complexity of divorce and separation in respect of selling a residence.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Within the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) system, private residence relief (PRR) exempts from CGT the gain a person may make when they sell a residential property that they have lived in as their main home.
In April, changes were made to reduce the final period exemption, in which a previous main residence always qualifies for CGT PRR, from 18 months to 9 months. The final period exemption is an ancillary relief intended to allow individuals who own another residence time to sell their property after they are no longer using their old main residence. This change was to target the relief better at owner occupiers and reduce the instances where people can accrue relief on two properties simultaneously.
The Government has no plans to change the length of the CGT Private Residence Relief (PRR) final period exemption.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to review the recent reduction of Private Residence Relief to take into account the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) home viewings and sales and (b) the time taken for the conveyancing process.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Within the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) system, private residence relief (PRR) exempts from CGT the gain a person may make when they sell a residential property that they have lived in as their main home.
In April, changes were made to reduce the final period exemption, in which a previous main residence always qualifies for CGT PRR, from 18 months to 9 months. This change was to better target the relief at owner occupiers and reduce the instances where people can accrue relief on two properties simultaneously.
The Government has no plans to change the length of the CGT Private Residence Relief (PRR) final period exemption.