Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential effect of the recent changes to the design of patent box as agreed at the recent G20 summit on inward research and development investment.

We have sought to ensure that the potential changes required by the proposed OECD methodology in assessing intellectual property regimes have as small an impact on the availability of the Patent Box as possible, by negotiating changes to the methodology to take account of UK concerns. At this stage it is too early to estimate the effect on inward research and development, as limited data is available on current take-up of the Patent Box due to time available for companies to file their first tax returns showing the effect of Patent Box elections.