Finance (No. 2) Bill

Debate between Siobhain McDonagh and Jesse Norman

Committee stage & Committee of the Whole House (Day 1)
Monday 19th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Temporary Chair (Siobhain McDonagh)]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Clause 6 stand part.

Clause 7 stand part.

Clause 8 stand part.

Amendment 11, in clause 9, page 3, line 35, leave out “130%” and insert “18%”.

This amendment would reduce the level of the capital allowance super-deductions to the current rate of 18%.

Amendment 79, page 4, line 2, at end insert—

“provided that any such company which has more than £1 million in qualifying expenditure must also—

(i) adhere to International Labour Organisation convention 98 on the right to organise and collective bargaining,

(ii) be certified or be in the process of being certified by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage employer, and

(iii) not be liable to the digital services tax”.

This amendment would, in respect of companies with qualifying expenditure of over £1 million, add conditions relating to ILO convention 98, the living wage and the digital services tax.

Amendment 80, page 4, line 2, at end insert—

“provided that any such company which has more than £1 million in qualifying expenditure must also make a climate-related financial disclosure in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures within the 2021/22 tax year”.

This amendment would, in respect of companies with qualifying expenditure of over £1 million, add a condition relating to climate-related financial disclosure to the conditions that must be met in order for expenditure to qualify for super-deductions.

Amendment 66, page 4, line 6, at end insert “, except general exclusion 6”.

This amendment would remove leased assets from the list of assets excluded from the super-deduction and special rate allowance introduced by Finance (No. 2 Bill).

Amendment 67, page 4, line 21, at end insert “, except general exclusion 6”.

See the explanatory statement for Amendment 66.

Amendment 53, page 5, line 15, at end insert—

“(11) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, no later than 5 April 2022, lay before the House of Commons a report—

(a) analysing the fiscal and economic effects of Government relief under the capital allowances super-deduction scheme since the inception of the scheme, and the changes in those effects which it estimates will occur as a result of the provisions of this section, in respect of—

(i) each NUTS 1 statistical region of England and England as a whole,

(ii) Scotland,

(iii) Wales, and

(iv) Northern Ireland,

(b) assessing how the capital allowance super-deduction scheme is furthering efforts to mitigate climate change, and any differences in the benefit of this funding in respect of—

(i) each NUTS 1 statistical region of England and England as a whole,

(ii) Scotland,

(iii) Wales, and

(iv) Northern Ireland.”

This amendment would require the Chancellor of the Exchequer to analyse the impact of changes proposed in Clause 9 in terms of impact on the economy and geographical reach and to assess the impact of the capital allowances super-deduction scheme on efforts to mitigate climate change.

Amendment 78, page 5, line 15, at end insert—

“(11) Expenditure shall not be qualifying expenditure under this section if it is incurred by a member of a group which is required to publish a tax strategy in compliance with Schedule 19 of the Finance Act 2016, unless any tax strategy published in compliance with that Schedule after the coming into force of this Act includes any relevant country-by-country report.

(12) ‘Country-by-country report’ has the meaning given by the Taxes (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations 2016.

(13) A country-by-country report is relevant if it—

(a) was filed or required to be filed by the group in compliance with those Regulations on or before the date of publication of the tax strategy, or would have been so required if the head of the group were resident in the United Kingdom for tax purposes, and

(b) has not already been included in a tax strategy published by the group.”

This amendment would require large multinationals accessing super-deductions to make their country-by-country reporting public.

Clause 9 stand part.

Clause 10 stand part.

Clause 11 stand part.

Clause 12 stand part.

Clause 13 stand part.

Clause 14 stand part.

Amendment 55, page 85, line 10, in schedule 1, leave out from “period if it is” to the end of line 30 and insert—

“a related 51% group company of that company in the accounting period as defined by section 279F of CTA 2010.”

This amendment would prevent the introduction of a new definition of “associated companies” for the purposes of the small profits rate and uses an existing provision instead.

Amendment 56, page 93, line 29, leave out paragraph 11.

See the explanatory statement for amendment 55.

Amendment 57, page 94, line 5, leave out sub-sub-paragraph (a).

See the explanatory statement for amendment 55.

Amendment 58, page 94, line 14, leave out sub-paragraph (3).

See the explanatory statement for amendment 55.

Amendment 59, page 94, line 22, leave out paragraphs 15 to 17.

See the explanatory statement for amendment 55.

Amendment 60, page 95, line 5, leave out paragraphs 20 and 21.

See the explanatory statement for amendment 55.

Amendment 61, page 96, line 44, leave out paragraph 30.

See the explanatory statement for amendment 55.

Amendment 62, page 97, line 22, leave out sub-sub-paragraph (e).

See the explanatory statement for amendment 55.

New clause 1—Eligibility for super-deduction—

“(1) Only employers that meet the criteria in subsection (2) shall benefit from the provisions relating to capital allowance super-deductions in sections 9 to 14.

(2) The criteria are that the employer—

(a) recognises a trade union for the purposes of collective bargaining with its workforce, and

(b) is certified by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage employer.”

This new clause would ensure that only employers that pay their staff the living wage and recognise trade union(s) would be eligible to receive the capital allowance super-deductions.

New clause 2—Commencement of super-deduction provisions (report on the benefits)—

“(1) Sections 9 to 14 shall not come into force until—

(a) the Secretary of State has commissioned and published a report that sets out the expected benefits of the capital allowance super-deductions in this Act, and

(b) the report has been debated and approved by the House of Commons.

(2) The report in subsection (1) must consider what the economic and social benefits would be of making the capital allowance super-deductions contingent on employers meeting criteria relating to—

(a) reducing their carbon emissions,

(b) tackling the gender pay gap,

(c) paying the right amount of tax and not using avoidance schemes,

(d) paying the living wage to all directly employed staff, and

(e) recognising trade unions for the purposes of collective bargaining.”

This new clause would mean that sections 9 to 14 could not come into force until the Government had published a report examining the economic, social and environmental effect of the capital allowance super-deductions and that report had been agreed by the House of Commons.

New clause 6—Commencement of super-deduction provisions (report on existing capital allowances)—

“(1) Sections 9 to 14 shall not come into force until the conditions in subsection (2) are met.

(2) The conditions are—

(a) the Public Accounts Committee has reported on the effectiveness of the existing capital allowances listed in section 2(3) of the Capital Allowances Act 2001, and

(b) at least one week after the publication of the report in paragraph (a) both Houses of Parliament have agreed that sections 9 to 14 shall come into force.”

This new clause would set the following conditions before clauses 9 to 14 of the Bill come into force: that the Public Accounts Committee prepares a report on the effectiveness of existing capital allowances, and then that both Houses of Parliament approve the clauses coming into force.

New clause 9—Equalities impact assessment of capital allowance super-deductions—

“(none) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, no later than 5 April 2022, lay before the House of Commons an equalities impact assessment of the provisions sections 9 to 14 of this Act, which must cover the impact of those provisions on—

(a) households at different levels of income,

(b) people with protected characteristics (within the meaning of the Equality Act 2010),

(c) the Treasury’s compliance with the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010,

(d) equality in different parts of the United Kingdom and different regions of England, and

(e) child poverty.”

New clause 13—Review of impact of sections 6 to 14—

“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must review the impact on investment in parts of the United Kingdom and regions of England of the changes made by sections 6 to 14 and schedule 1 and lay a report of that review before the House of Commons within six months of the passing of this Act.

(2) A review under this section must consider the effects of the provisions on—

(a) business investment,

(b) employment,

(c) productivity,

(d) GDP growth, and

(e) poverty.

(3) A review under this section must consider the following scenarios—

(a) the United Kingdom reaches an agreement with OECD countries on a minimum international level of corporation tax, and

(b) the United Kingdom does not reach an agreement with OECD countries on a minimum international level of corporation tax.

(4) In this section—

“parts of the United Kingdom” means—

(a) England,

(b) Scotland,

(c) Wales, and

(d) Northern Ireland;

and “regions of England” has the same meaning as that used by the Office for National Statistics.”

This new clause would require a report comparing scenarios in which (a) the United Kingdom reaches an agreement with OECD countries on a minimum international level of corporation tax, and (b) the United Kingdom does not reach an agreement with OECD countries on a minimum international level of corporation tax on various economic indicators.

New clause 17—Review of impact on corporation tax revenues of global minimum rate of corporation tax—

“The Chancellor of the Exchequer must within six months of Royal Assent lay before the House of Commons an assessment of the effect on corporation tax revenues in 2022 and 2023 of a global minimum corporation tax rate set at 21%.”

This new clause would require the Government to publish an assessment of the revenue effect of a global minimum corporation tax rate of 21%.

New clause 19—Review of impact of sections 6 to 14 (No. 2)—

“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must review the impact on investment in parts of the United Kingdom and regions of England of the changes made by sections 6 to 14 and schedule 1 and lay a report of that review before the House of Commons within six months of the passing of this Act.

(2) A review under this section must consider the effects of the provisions on—

(a) business investment,

(b) employment,

(c) productivity,

(d) GDP growth, and

(e) poverty.

(3) A review under this section must compare the estimated impact of corporation tax rate changes in this Act with the impact on investment from the changes to the corporation tax rate in each of the last 12 years.

(4) In this section—

‘parts of the United Kingdom’ means—

(a) England,

(b) Scotland,

(c) Wales, and

(d) Northern Ireland;

and “regions of England” has the same meaning as that used by the Office for National Statistics”

This new clause seeks a review of the estimated impact of corporation tax rate changes in this Act with the impact on investment from the changes to the corporation tax rate in each of the last 12 years on various economic indicators.

New clause 20—Review of impact of section 7—

“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must review the impact of section 7 and lay a report of that review before the House of Commons within six months of the passing of this Act.

(2) A review under this section must consider the effects of the provisions on—

(a) the link between corporate profit rates and ownership, and

(b) the cost of re-introducing a small profits rate.”

This new clause seeks a review of corporation tax provisions on (a) the link between corporate profit rates and ownership, and (b) the cost of re-introducing a small profits rate.

New clause 21—Review of impact of sections 6 to 14 (No. 3)—

“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must review the impact on investment in parts of the United Kingdom and regions of England of the changes made by sections 6 to 14 and schedule 1 and lay a report of that review before the House of Commons within six months of the passing of this Act.

(2) A review under this section must consider the effects of the provisions on—

(a) progress towards the Government’s climate emissions targets, and

(b) capital investment in each of the next five years.

(3) A review under this section must include—

(a) the distribution of super-deduction claims by company size, and

(b) estimated tax fraud.

(4) In this section—

‘parts of the United Kingdom’ means—

(a) England,

(b) Scotland,

(c) Scotland,

(d) Wales, and

(e) Northern Ireland;

and ‘regions of England’ has the same meaning as that used by the Office for National Statistics.”

This new clause seeks a report on the impact of the super deduction on (a) progress towards the Government’s climate emissions targets, and (b) capital investment in each of the next five years. A review under this section must include (a) the distribution of super-deduction claims by company size, and (b) estimated tax fraud.

New clause 24—Review of super-deductions—

“(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must review the impact of sections 9 to 14 and schedule 1 of this Act and lay a report of that review before the House of Commons within six months of the passing of this Act, and then annually for five further years.

(2) A review under this section must estimate the expected impact of sections 9 to 14 and schedule 1 on—

(a) levels of artificial tax avoidance,

(b) levels of tax evasion, reducing the tax gap in each tax year from 2021–22 to 2025–26, and

(c) levels of gross fixed capital formation by businesses in each tax year from 2021–22 to 2025–26.

(3) The first review under this section must also consider levels of usage of the recovery loan scheme in 2021.”

This new clause would require the Government to review the impact of the provisions relating to super-deductions and publish regular reports setting out their findings.

[Jesse Norman]

Clauses 6 to 14 and schedule 1 establish the charge and set the rate of corporation tax at 19% for the financial year beginning in April 2022, and establish the charge and increase the rate of corporation tax to 25% for the financial year beginning in April 2023. They also introduce a small profits rate at 19% for companies with profits of £50,000 or less, with marginal relief for companies with profits between £50,000 and £250,000; and they increase the diverted profits tax rate by 6 percentage points, in line with the increase in the main rate of corporation tax. Finally, they introduce a capital allowance super-deduction for investments in plant and machinery.

At 19%, the current rate of corporation tax is the lowest headline rate in the G20 and significantly lower than in the rest of the G7. However, given that the Government have used the full weight of the public finances to support businesses during the pandemic, protecting thousands of businesses with more than £100 billion-worth of support, it is right that, as the economy rebounds and businesses return to profit, they share in the burden of restoring the public finances to a sustainable footing. That is why the Chancellor announced at Budget that the rate of corporation tax will increase to 25% from April 2023, after the economy is forecast to recover to its pre-pandemic level.

While many businesses are struggling now and the Government are continuing to provide support for them, others are sitting on large cash reserves. To unlock those funds and support an investment-led economic recovery, from April 2021 until the end of March 2023 companies will be able to claim a 130% capital allowance super deduction on qualifying plant and machinery investments. This super-deduction makes the UK’s capital allowance regime truly world-leading, lifting the net present value of our plant and machinery allowances from 30th in the OECD to first.

Given the number of amendments and the number of speakers, I will try to keep my remarks relatively brief. Clause 6 sets the main rate of corporation tax at 25% from April 2023. The OBR forecasts that this will raise over £45 billion in the next five years. It should be noted that 25% is still the lowest headline rate in the G7—lower than in the United States, Canada, Italy, Japan, Germany and France. The clause also sets the main rate of corporation tax at 19% for the financial year beginning on 1 April 2022. That means the higher rate will not come into force until well after the point when the OBR expects the economy to have recovered to its pre-pandemic level.

To protect businesses with small profits from a rate increase, clause 7 and schedule 1 introduce a small profits rate for non-ring fence profits for the financial year beginning 1 April 2023. As a consequence, only around 10% of actively trading companies will pay the full main rate.

Clause 8 makes changes to increase the rate of diverted profits tax to 31% from 1 April 2023, along with apportionment provisions for accounting periods straddling the commencement date. This will maintain the current differential between the main rate and ensure the diverted profits tax remains an effective deterrent against profits being diverted out of the UK.

Clauses 9 to 14 make changes to encourage firms to invest in productivity-enhancing plant and machinery assets that will help them grow, and to make those investments now. Clause 9 introduces new capital allowances available for expenditure incurred by companies between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2023. These include a 130% super deduction for new main rate plant and machinery and a 50% special rate first-year allowance for new special rate plant and machinery

Business investment fell by a record £12 billion between the first and second quarters of last year. Making capital allowances rates for plant and machinery investments more generous has the effect of stimulating business investment and enhancing productivity. As firms invest, they create new, or substitute better, assets for use in production. That increases labour productivity, as workers produce more output per hours worked through the use of new equipment that enables faster, higher-quality outputs.

The measure will greatly benefit British companies of all sizes, including those investing more than the £1 million annual investment allowance threshold, which are responsible for around 80% of total plant and machinery capital expenditure. The changes made by clauses 9 to 14 will allow all companies to reduce their taxable profits by 130%, or 50% up front, all in the first year—a cash-flow benefit powerful enough to encourage businesses to invest now. We expect the measure to cost around £25 billion over the scorecard period.

Opposition Members have tabled a number of amendments to clauses 6 to 14. Amendments 55 to 62 propose the removal of the associated companies rules that apply to the small profits rate. The rules will affect a small proportion of companies, but they are an essential feature of the regime to prevent profitable businesses from fragmenting in order to take advantage of a lower rate or creating unfair outcomes, and they were a feature of the previous regime on which these rules are based. In the absence of the rules, a consultant, for example, could provide his or her services through five companies with profits of £40,000 each and benefit from the small profits rate. I cannot believe that Opposition Members, or indeed any Member, would support that form of avoidance: restructuring in order not to pay the tax.

Several of the new clauses call on the Government to publish a review of the impact of these clauses and potential alternative policy approaches. The Office for Budget Responsibility considers the impact of policy changes in its fiscal forecasts and sets them out in its “Economic and fiscal outlook”, which is published alongside the Budget. Therefore, I can reassure Opposition Members that new clauses 17 and 20, which request reviews into the revenue impacts of a potential global minimum tax rate and the impact of the small profits rate, are not necessary.

New clauses 13, 19 and 21 request reviews into the investment and various economic impacts of clauses 6 to 14 across the UK. The economic impacts of the clauses have been reflected in the OBR’s forecasts published in its “Economic and fiscal outlook”, as were the impacts of reductions in the rate of corporation tax. The fiscal impact of any future agreement on international tax reform will be reflected in subsequent “Economic and fiscal outlook” documents.

Opposition Members have also tabled several amendments relating specifically to clauses 9 to 14. Amendment 11 would reduce the level of the super deduction to the current writing down allowance of 18% for main rate assets. That would have the effect of removing all the benefit conveyed by this groundbreaking new policy for shorter-life assets, while the benefit of a 50% first-year allowance for longer-life assets would remain. That would distort investment behaviour in favour of longer-life assets and reduce the positive benefits of the policy.

Various other amendments seek to restrict the relief only to certain companies, or require companies that claim the super deduction to meet more burdensome conditions than would be required for other first-year allowances. The super deduction is an intentionally broad-based tax relief, designed to ensure that as many companies as possible are able to benefit from this very generous policy, in order that they can invest in their own future to drive the economic recovery.

Regarding a new requirement for country-by-country reporting, I am pleased to say that this Government have championed tax transparency both at home and abroad. That is demonstrated by the requirement introduced in 2016 for large businesses to publish their annual tax strategy, containing detail on the business’s approach to tax and how it works with HMRC. However, the Government continue to believe that only a multilateral approach to public country-by-country reporting with wide international support would be effective in achieving transparency objectives and avoiding disproportionate impacts on the UK’s competitiveness, or distortions regarding group structures. The Government firmly believe that that should remain voluntary and that no further legislation is needed unless and until public country-by-country reporting is agreed on a multilateral basis.

New clauses 2 and 6 would have the effect of delaying the super deduction, but to delay the policy now would be highly irresponsible and would risk holding up the economic recovery that the policy will help to stimulate. The likely real-world effect of delaying the implementation of the super deduction would be that businesses would delay investment until they had certainty on whether the super deduction would be available. At a time when investment is most needed, delaying the implementation of the super deduction would thus have negative impacts on employment, growth and wages. Various other amendments would delay the measure, narrow its scope or replicate existing analysis and safeguards, and I urge the Committee to reject them.