Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of families eligible for tax free credits have not taken up their entitlement for tax free childcare in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Statistics relating to Tax-Free childcare account usage are published quarterly in "Tax-Free Childcare Statistics" on the gov.uk website.
The current estimated number of families in the UK that are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare is 1.2 million. As this is an estimate, it is not possible to give an exact number of the number of eligible families not using Tax-Free Childcare.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families have taken up tax free childcare allowances in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Statistics relating to Tax-Free childcare account usage are published quarterly in "Tax-Free Childcare Statistics" on the gov.uk website.
The current estimated number of families in the UK that are eligible for Tax-Free Childcare is 1.2 million. As this is an estimate, it is not possible to give an exact number of the number of eligible families not using Tax-Free Childcare.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help ensure that parents who are eligible for tax free childcare in Northern Ireland access that support.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Tax-Free Childcare provides financial support across the UK to eligible working parents with their childcare costs. For every £8 parents pay into their childcare account, the Government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 in top up per year for each child up to age 11, and up to £4,000 per disabled child up to the age of 16.
To further support parents and childcare providers, a series of engagement events took place from autumn 2022 to autumn 2023, including with Northern Ireland local councils. This gave families and childcare providers additional support at local levels to improve their understanding and promote the scheme.
The Childcare Choices website provides information on what’s available to help parents with their childcare costs, including what schemes are available in the devolved Nations.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many section 684 notices were issued by HMRC in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In the context of Disguised Remuneration (DR), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has in some circumstances used the power provided under s.684(7A)(b) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (the Discretion) to collect the tax owed; and since 2022, HMRC has issued around 2,700 decisions using the Discretion.
In his independent review, Lord Morse recommended that the Loan Charge should no longer apply to loans made before 9 December 2010. However, Lord Morse said “HMRC should continue being able to settle and investigate cases prior to this point under their normal powers where they have appropriate grounds, and a legal basis, to do so”.
In line with this recommendation, HMRC is still seeking to recover the tax due where it had taken the necessary steps in the past to ensure there is an open tax enquiry or assessment which gives it the legal basis to do so.
In May 2022, the Court of Appeal said that HMRC could consider using the Discretion to collect tax directly from the individual who received income through a DR scheme.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many notices under section 684 of the Income Tax Act 2007 have been issued to individuals with Loan Charge liabilities incurred before December 2010.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In the context of Disguised Remuneration (DR), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has in some circumstances used the power provided under s.684(7A)(b) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (the Discretion) to collect the tax owed; and since 2022, HMRC has issued around 2,700 decisions using the Discretion.
In his independent review, Lord Morse recommended that the Loan Charge should no longer apply to loans made before 9 December 2010. However, Lord Morse said “HMRC should continue being able to settle and investigate cases prior to this point under their normal powers where they have appropriate grounds, and a legal basis, to do so”.
In line with this recommendation, HMRC is still seeking to recover the tax due where it had taken the necessary steps in the past to ensure there is an open tax enquiry or assessment which gives it the legal basis to do so.
In May 2022, the Court of Appeal said that HMRC could consider using the Discretion to collect tax directly from the individual who received income through a DR scheme.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HMRC spent on legal fees in tax litigation cases in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Solicitors Office and Legal Services provide a range of legal and professional services to HMRC, including conduct of tax litigation.
The operating expenditure for HMRC’s Solicitors Office and Legal Services is published in HMRC’s annual reports and accounts and can be found for the last five years at
www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts.
For 2022/23 accounts, details can be found on page 246.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for R&D tax credits by companies in Northern Ireland were refused on the grounds they were fraudulent in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publish the estimated number of R&D claims and a breakdown of the number of claims by region. The latest figures, for 2021-2022, are published here: Research and Development Tax Credit Statistics September 2023.
HMRC do not publish the proportion of R&D claims rejected or the reasons for rejecting them.
All R&D claims go through a risk screening process before the payment process. Where risks are identified, HMRC open enquiries into those claims following the HMRC Enquiry manual, a detailed guidance framework on conducting compliance checks.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what scrutiny is given to technical reports submitted with R&D tax credit applications by companies in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publish the estimated number of R&D claims and a breakdown of the number of claims by region. The latest figures, for 2021-2022, are published here: Research and Development Tax Credit Statistics September 2023.
HMRC do not publish the proportion of R&D claims rejected or the reasons for rejecting them.
All R&D claims go through a risk screening process before the payment process. Where risks are identified, HMRC open enquiries into those claims following the HMRC Enquiry manual, a detailed guidance framework on conducting compliance checks.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for R&D tax credits by companies in Northern Ireland were refused in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publish the estimated number of R&D claims and a breakdown of the number of claims by region. The latest figures, for 2021-2022, are published here: Research and Development Tax Credit Statistics September 2023.
HMRC do not publish the proportion of R&D claims rejected or the reasons for rejecting them.
All R&D claims go through a risk screening process before the payment process. Where risks are identified, HMRC open enquiries into those claims following the HMRC Enquiry manual, a detailed guidance framework on conducting compliance checks.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications were made by companies in Northern Ireland for R&D tax credits in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publish the estimated number of R&D claims and a breakdown of the number of claims by region. The latest figures, for 2021-2022, are published here: Research and Development Tax Credit Statistics September 2023.
HMRC do not publish the proportion of R&D claims rejected or the reasons for rejecting them.
All R&D claims go through a risk screening process before the payment process. Where risks are identified, HMRC open enquiries into those claims following the HMRC Enquiry manual, a detailed guidance framework on conducting compliance checks.