Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20433, (a) how many such consignments have been declared and (b) whether HMRC has taken such enforcement action since 21 July 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The indirect supply prohibition, concerning Russian Origin imports of Oil and Oil products came into force on 05 December 2022.
HMRC publishes UK trade data on the www.uktradeinfo.com website.
HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on operational enforcement matters pertaining to specific import or export scenarios.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2024 to Question 20431, whether HMRC has taken enforcement action on oil originating in Russia and imported from a refinery in India since 21 July 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on operational enforcement matters pertaining to specific import or export scenarios.Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will become bankrupt as a result of the (a) loan charge and (b) associated activity.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) only ever considers insolvency as a last resort. Anyone who is worried about being able to pay what they owe should contact HMRC, who may be able to agree an instalment arrangement based on the individual’s financial circumstances. There is no maximum length for these arrangements.
Where people are facing insolvency, HMRC is not always the only creditor. Some individuals are declared bankrupt as a result of a non-HMRC debt and some individuals may choose to enter insolvency themselves based on their overall financial position. To date, HMRC has not initiated insolvency proceedings against any taxpayer solely for a Loan Charge debt.
As set out in the answer to PQ 17136, since 2022, HMRC has issued around 2,700 decisions under s.684(7A)(b) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 to disguised remuneration scheme users.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have been issued section 684 notices by HMRC in relation to disguised remuneration schemes in the last 12 months.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) only ever considers insolvency as a last resort. Anyone who is worried about being able to pay what they owe should contact HMRC, who may be able to agree an instalment arrangement based on the individual’s financial circumstances. There is no maximum length for these arrangements.
Where people are facing insolvency, HMRC is not always the only creditor. Some individuals are declared bankrupt as a result of a non-HMRC debt and some individuals may choose to enter insolvency themselves based on their overall financial position. To date, HMRC has not initiated insolvency proceedings against any taxpayer solely for a Loan Charge debt.
As set out in the answer to PQ 17136, since 2022, HMRC has issued around 2,700 decisions under s.684(7A)(b) of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 to disguised remuneration scheme users.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 19192 on Tax Avoidance, whether it is his Department's policy to cease recovery of any liabilities incurred before December 2010 in cases where a taxpayer has not received an update for a period of 12 months or more from the initial date of an open enquiry or assessment.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In the 2019 Independent Loan Charge Review, Lord Morse recommended that the Loan Charge should only apply to loans made on or after 9 December 2010. The Government accepted this recommendation.
Lord Morse was also clear that, for years before this date, where there is an open enquiry or assessment under appeal, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) should still have the ability to pursue the tax due under the existing rules. HMRC has proceeded on this basis and it is its policy to collect tax where it has the ability to do so.
As part of its overall compliance processes and its commitment to update taxpayers at least annually, all of these taxpayers should have received correspondence from HMRC in the last 12 months.
When HMRC opens an enquiry, the information sheet provided includes information about a taxpayer’s right to apply to the First Tier Tribunal for the enquiry to be closed. One of the grounds for making such an application is where there has been an excessive delay during which a taxpayer has not received any communication from HMRC.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quality of customer services provided by His Majesty's Revenue and Customers to taxpayers; and whether they will undertake a review or ask an independent third party to do so.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The quality of HMRC's customer service is regularly assessed by various bodies, including the Treasury Select Committee, National Audit Office, independent Adjudicator's Office, and Public Accounts Committee. HMRC also has internal customer surveys and key performance metrics to monitor its customer service objectives as outlined in the HMRC Charter.
HMRC Performance is published on a monthly and quarterly basis on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates
Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding will be allocated to each local authority trading standards for enforcing the (a) disposable vapes ban and (b) generational tobacco ban.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has committed to increasing investment for enforcement agencies by £30 million per year. The additional funding in England will boost agencies such as local trading standards, to enforce the new age of sale and vaping measures. It will also scale up HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force activity, to stamp out opportunities for criminals in the illicit tobacco trade.
Of this funding, over £100 million over five years will support HM Revenue and Custom’s and Border Force’s new illicit tobacco strategy, published on 29 January 2024. We are working closely with Trading Standards to consider how the new funding can best support their programmes of local-level enforcement.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an equality impact assessment of the decision to close the HMRC helpline between April and September each year.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC conducted a full Equalities Impact Assessment regarding the planned closure of the Self Assessment helpline between 8 April and 30 September 2024. However, HMRC has halted this plan while it engages with stakeholders about how to ensure all taxpayers’ needs are met as the Department shifts more people to online self-service.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce alternative arrangements for HMRC to answer calls during the self-assessment telephone helpline closure between 8 April and 30 September 2024.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC has halted its planned changes to the Self Assessment, VAT and PAYE telephone helplines between April and September 2024 while it engages with stakeholders about how to ensure all taxpayers’ needs are met as the Department shifts more people to online self-service.
HMRC encourages customers to use its online services and the HMRC App where they can. These offer quicker and easier handling of most transactions and queries.
However, for those who are vulnerable, digitally excluded, or have complex tax affairs, HMRC's helpline and webchat advisers will remain available to provide the necessary support.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2024, to Question 13272 on Tobacco: Smuggling, how many referrals have been made by Trading Standards to HMRC in the last 12 months; and how many penalties have been issued as a result.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In July 2023 new powers were given to Trading Standards to make referrals to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) where they find evidence of tobacco products that don’t comply with the UK Tobacco Track and Trace System. The referral process which practically implements these powers started in October 2023. HMRC periodically publishes outputs of its tobacco strategy, and will publish the outputs of its work with Trading Standards as part of future publications.