Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to tackle the sale of illegal tobacco.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has dedicated significant resource to tackling illicit tobacco, and has set out its approach to doing so in successive strategies dating back to 2000. These strategies have been highly effective in reducing the estimated duty gap for cigarettes from 16.9% in 2005 to 11% in 2021/22 and for hand-rolling tobacco from 65.2% to 33.5% over the same period.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) publishes annual data on seizures, criminal investigations and civil penalties related to tobacco. Between April 2021 and March 2022, HMRC and Border Force seized 1.35bn cigarettes and 212,949kg of hand-rolling tobacco.
As set out in the October 2023 command paper, Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation, the Government is increasing investment to enforcement agencies by £30 million per year from 2024/25 to 2028/29, boosting our abilities to tackle illegal activity.
The paper also confirmed that HMRC and Border Force will publish an updated Illicit Tobacco Strategy, which sets out plans to address future challenges and opportunities that criminals seek to exploit. The strategy will be published in due course.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Self invested pension schemes rules which prevent the owners of a single commercial property with living accommodation above or attached from letting that accommodation on the supply of available housing stock.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Further to the answer given in 191375, although the current tax rules impose no direct restrictions on the types of assets that Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) can invest in, SIPPs will incur tax charges if they acquire certain assets, such as residential property. This is to prevent individuals from using tax-relieved funds to acquire property that could be of personal use, rather than to secure future retirement income.
However, SIPPs are able to indirectly invest in residential property through collective investment vehicles such as Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs), where sufficient diversity of ownership and assets prevents the possibility of private use of the assets.
The legislation aims to strike a balance between allowing these pension schemes to invest in a wide range of assets, and the need to protect both tax relief on pension contributions and investment returns from potential abuse.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has held discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the potential effect on the availability of flats in town centres of allowing Self Invested Personal Pensions to hold residential properties.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
While the current tax rules impose no direct restrictions on the types of assets that Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) can invest in, SIPPs will incur tax charges if they acquire certain assets, such as residential property. This is to prevent individuals from using tax-relieved funds to acquire property that could be of personal use, rather than to secure future retirement income.
However, SIPPs are able to indirectly invest in residential property through collective investment vehicles such as Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs), where sufficient diversity of ownership and assets prevents the possibility of private use of the assets.
The legislation aims to strike a balance between allowing these pension schemes to invest in a wide range of assets, and the need to protect both tax relief on pension contributions and investment returns from potential abuse.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the restriction preventing the holding of commercial and residential properties within Self Invested Personal Pensions.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
While the current tax rules impose no direct restrictions on the types of assets that Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) can invest in, SIPPs will incur tax charges if they acquire certain assets, such as residential property. This is to prevent individuals from using tax-relieved funds to acquire property that could be of personal use, rather than to secure future retirement income.
However, SIPPs are able to indirectly invest in residential property through collective investment vehicles such as Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs), where sufficient diversity of ownership and assets prevents the possibility of private use of the assets.
The legislation aims to strike a balance between allowing these pension schemes to invest in a wide range of assets, and the need to protect both tax relief on pension contributions and investment returns from potential abuse.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing Self Invested Personal Pensions to hold (a) commercial and (b) residential properties.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
While the current tax rules impose no direct restrictions on the types of assets that Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) can invest in, SIPPs will incur tax charges if they acquire certain assets, such as residential property. This is to prevent individuals from using tax-relieved funds to acquire property that could be of personal use, rather than to secure future retirement income.
However, SIPPs are able to indirectly invest in residential property through collective investment vehicles such as Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs), where sufficient diversity of ownership and assets prevents the possibility of private use of the assets.
The legislation aims to strike a balance between allowing these pension schemes to invest in a wide range of assets, and the need to protect both tax relief on pension contributions and investment returns from potential abuse.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of Authorised Mileage Allowance Payments in the context of increases in the cost of fuel.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rate under review. In considering changes to the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rate, the Government has to balance the responsible management of public finances, which fund our essential public services with support for individuals.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of reforming the Authorised Mileage Allowance Payments system.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rate under review. In considering changes to the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rate, the Government has to balance the responsible management of public finances, which fund our essential public services with support for individuals.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to increase mileage rates.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps the AMAP rate under review. In considering changes to the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rate, the Government has to balance the responsible management of public finances, which fund our essential public services with support for individuals.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact on tax revenues of (a) taxing pension inheritance at the same rate for people who die before and after the age of 75 and (b) no longer taxing pension inheritance for people who die after the age of 75.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The primary purpose of a pension is to provide income, or funds on which individuals can draw, in retirement. If an individual dies before they get to use it for that purpose, the Government believes their beneficiaries should be able to have the funds. However, the Government does not want pensions to become a vehicle for inheritance tax planning. Therefore, once an individual is 75, they will be able to pass these funds on to others in a flexi-access drawdown account or as a lump sum, but the recipient will need to pay their marginal rate of tax on them.
The age of 75 is a feature of the existing pensions tax system. It is the age at which individuals stop receiving tax relief on pension contributions and at which most people will bring or will have brought their pension into payment.
As ever, the Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review, as part of the annual Budget process, and in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of equalising taxation rules on inherited pension pots when a pension holder dies (a) before and (b) after the age of 75.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The primary purpose of a pension is to provide income, or funds on which individuals can draw, in retirement. If an individual dies before they get to use it for that purpose, the Government believes their beneficiaries should be able to have the funds. However, the Government does not want pensions to become a vehicle for inheritance tax planning. Therefore, once an individual is 75, they will be able to pass these funds on to others in a flexi-access drawdown account or as a lump sum, but the recipient will need to pay their marginal rate of tax on them.
The age of 75 is a feature of the existing pensions tax system. It is the age at which individuals stop receiving tax relief on pension contributions and at which most people will bring or will have brought their pension into payment.
As ever, the Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review, as part of the annual Budget process, and in the context of the wider public finances.