Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether self-employed individuals who file their tax returns late but owe no tax are penalised.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC issues SA tax returns to customers when the information they hold suggests that the customer meets the published criteria for completing one. HMRC often cannot determine someone’s tax liability until they have sent in a tax return, therefore they need the return to establish whether there is tax due or not. Late filing and payment penalties are charged to encourage customers to file on time but we can cancel a customer’s late filing penalty if they have a reasonable excuse. Customers can also ask HMRC to remove them from the SA process for future years if they no longer meet the criteria.
From October 2011 the penalty legislation changed, from this point the capping of penalties was no longer factored into the calculation and any fixed penalty applied remained at the full amount regardless of liability.
Although no change to the current penalty regime has been announced, Penalty Reform within Making Tax Digital will change the way we calculate penalties for late Submission and late payment of tax. The new legislation will factor in the Liability amount, Filing frequency and length of time outstanding within its penalty calculations.
In reforming late payment and late filing penalties HMRC’s aim is to encourage those who persistently default to comply with their tax obligations rather than penalise those who make occasional errors.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is developing economic models to forecast (a) price trends and (b) growth potential in cryptocurrencies.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is not developing economic models to forecast cryptoasset trends. Rather, it uses information from a range of sources to understand broad trends in the market in order to inform policy development.
In October last year, the Treasury published its final proposals for creating the UK’s financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets, and is currently working to deliver legislation giving effect to its proposals. As part of this, the government will publish analysis of the impacts of its legislation on cryptoasset businesses in scope of the forthcoming regime in the usual way.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to support self-employed individuals who may struggle to file their tax returns on time due to economic difficulties; and whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of reforming the penalty system.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC is committed to helping all taxpayers pay their taxes and urges anyone having difficulty to make contact as soon as possible. Time to Pay arrangements are available for taxpayers who cannot afford to make full payment of their tax when it is due. Also, a Budget Payment Plan service allows Self Assessment taxpayers to make advance payments. HMRC has recently published YouTube videos on GOV.UK to help the self-employed, including one about ‘How to budget for your Self-Assessment tax bill if you’re self-employed’.
In Spring 2021 the government announced a new points-based penalty regime for regular tax return submission obligations, to replace existing penalties for VAT and Self Assessment. The new approach is fairer, with financial penalties arising only when the failure is consistent. For Self Assessment taxpayers, reformed penalties will begin when they join the Making Tax Digital (MTD) service for Self Assessment from April 2026 onwards.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to use revenue raised through the increase in car tax from 1 April 2024 to support (a) public transport and (b) environmental initiatives.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Consolidated Fund receives the proceeds of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and most other tax revenues. VED is being reinvested into the English road network between 2020-2025 to fund road enhancement projects. The Government uses the tax system to encourage the uptake of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to help meet our legally binding climate change targets.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what incentives are available to encourage growth strategies among UK tech firms; and whether he plans to take steps to help increase the number of high-value tech companies based in the UK.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is backing British business to drive long-term economic growth by tackling barriers to investment, cutting taxes and rewarding work, and by supporting the priority growth sectors, including digital technology, which are helping to turn the UK into the world’s next Silicon Valley. The UK has Europe’s leading tech ecosystem, valued at over $1trillion, and the government is acting to create the best environment for our most innovative tech companies to start, scale and stay in the UK. This includes making over £3.5 billion of public investment in the AI ecosystem since 2014, extending the sunset clause for the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Venture Capital Trust scheme to 6 April 2035, making changes to simplify and improve R&D tax reliefs, extending the British Business Bank’s Future Fund: Breakthrough investment programme, and implementing the measures the Chancellor announced at last year’s Mansion House speech to reform the pensions market to unlock investment into high growth sectors and generate increased returns for savers.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the conflict between Iran and Israel on (a) global economic stability, (b) oil prices and (c) inflation.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury is monitoring the situation closely following Iran’s attack against Israel. The UK is working urgently with our allies to de-escalate the situation.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated the potential UK economic impacts of a widening of conflict in the Middle East in their March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2024/ ).
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the new regulatory framework for crypto assets and stablecoins will (a) enhance the UK's global competitiveness in fintech and (b) protect consumers from the volatility and risks associated with digital currencies.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what regulatory measures are in place to ensure the stability and security of investments in cryptocurrencies; and whether any additional measures are being considered.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to issue any (a) guidance or (b) resources to help potential investors understand the risks and benefits associated with cryptocurrency investments.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of (a) the role and (b) trends in the value of (i) bitcoin and (ii) other major cryptocurrencies in the economy in the next (A) five and (B) 10 years.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)