Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the total £1.5 billion allocated for the Equitable Life Payments Scheme is paid out to affected Equitable Life policyholders.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidelines are followed by HMRC when making decisions on the allocation of discretionary financial awards.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The payment of rewards by HMRC is discretionary.
The reward application must evidence the quality of the information provided, the extent and value to which the information contributed to HMRC assigned matters, and the result.
Consideration must be given to any seizure details; revenue received/recovered; arrests; penalties; and the alleged value of a case being prosecuted by HMRC should be considered, where appropriate.
When processing a reward each case will be dealt with on its own merits.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the total value of discretionary financial awards paid for by HMRC in each of the last six financial years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Rewards figures paid by HMRC are published in the annual reports and accounts on the gov.uk website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrcs-annual-report-and-accounts
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to clarify IR35 guidance on whether (a) workers, (b) end clients or (c) umbrella companies are liable to pay Employer's National Insurance Contributions and the Employer's Training Levy.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Where a worker is engaged, via an intermediary, by a large- or medium-sized private or voluntary sector client or by a public body, and the off-payroll working rules apply to the engagement, it is the deemed employer who is responsible for deducting income tax and employee National Insurance contributions (NICs) from the payment to the worker’s intermediary. In this situation, the deemed employer is also responsible for paying employer NICs and Apprenticeship Levy, where applicable, on top of the payment to the worker’s intermediary. Guidance on this is available on GOV.UK.
Where a worker is employed by an umbrella company, the off-payroll working rules do not apply and the umbrella company is responsible for paying any employer NICs and Apprenticeship Levy due. HMRC has published guidance to help workers engaged by umbrella companies to understand how these arrangements work, how they can expect to be paid and how to challenge if unauthorised deductions are made.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with representatives of the travel industry on the potential impact of removing VAT from the price of covid-19 PCR tests.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption. The standard rate of 20 per cent applies to most goods and services, including PCR tests. Medical testing, where it is administered by a registered health professional or where it is supervised by a relevant health professional and supplied as part of a single testing service, is exempt from VAT. The Government also continues to offer free Covid-19 testing for those with Covid-19 symptoms.
The Government recognises that the cost of PCR tests can be high, which is why we are working with the travel industry and private testing providers to see how we can further reduce the costs for the British public, whilst ensuring that travel remains as safe as possible. From 7 January 2022, eligible fully vaccinated passengers will no longer need to take a pre-departure test or self-isolate on arrival in England.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support people who work in the travel industry following the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was designed as a temporary, economy-wide measure to support businesses while widespread restrictions were in place. To date, the scheme has succeeded in supporting 11.7 million jobs across the UK with employer claims totalling £70 billion, which has aided businesses and protected livelihoods.
Where applicable, travel agents can continue to apply for the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme through their local authority, which is open until March 2022. Throughout the pandemic, over £2 billion of discretionary business grant funding was provided to local authorities via the ARG to support businesses in their local area. Local authorities determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target.