Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 5.67, page 75 of the Spring Budget 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime on the number of businesses that will (a) continue as short-term holiday lets, (b) become longer term rental properties and (c) sell the property in question.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has announced that it will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) tax regime from April 2025.
The Government will publish draft legislation, explanatory notes, and a tax information and impacts note in due course.
As with all aspects of tax policy, the Government keeps the taxation of property landlords under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
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: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting state pension from tax; and if he will make an assessment of whether state pension should be classified as income.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Personal Allowance is currently set at a level high enough to ensure that those pensioners whose sole income is the full rate of the new State Pension or basic State Pension do not pay any income tax.
The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review and any decision on future changes will be made by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 21426 on Childcare: Taxation, if he will make it his policy to increase the childcare tax free cap in line with inflation.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The £2,000 Tax-Free Childcare top-up, which can be claimed per year and per child, was set at this level because the Government believes it strikes the right balance between helping parents with their childcare costs, and managing the public finances in a responsible way.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made representations to HM Treasury on the inclusion of imported electricity in Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism taxation.
Answered by Amanda Solloway - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Electricity generation was not included within the initial sectoral scope of the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), announced in December 2023. The approach aligns with free allowance allocations, under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which are not provided to electricity generators.
In making the decision, the government looked primarily at three factors: inclusion in the UK ETS, carbon leakage risk, and feasibility and effectiveness.
The sectoral scope of a UK CBAM will remain under review. The design and delivery of a CBAM is subject to consultation, closing on 13 June 2024.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s consultation on the statutory levy on gambling operators, which closed on 14 December 2023, how many responses to the consultation were received in total; and what proportion of those responses were from the gambling industry.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators will represent a generational change to funding arrangements and a renewed commitment to improving efforts to further understand, tackle and treat harmful gambling. We want to see levy funding directed where it is needed most across research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. As set out in our public consultation, the prevention stream could see investment directed for projects to build capacity and expertise in frontline settings to increase responsiveness to gambling harm, including criminal justice settings.
We are now closely considering all evidence received to best guide the implementation of the statutory levy in an effective, fair and proportionate way. We will publish a response to the consultation setting out our final decisions soon. This will also include a full list of organisations who agreed to attribute their response to their organisation.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of providing interventions in the criminal justice system for offenders harmed by gambling; and whether these costs are being considered in the development of proposals for the statutory levy on gambling operators.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators will represent a generational change to funding arrangements and a renewed commitment to improving efforts to further understand, tackle and treat harmful gambling. We want to see levy funding directed where it is needed most across research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. As set out in our public consultation, the prevention stream could see investment directed for projects to build capacity and expertise in frontline settings to increase responsiveness to gambling harm, including criminal justice settings.
We are now closely considering all evidence received to best guide the implementation of the statutory levy in an effective, fair and proportionate way. We will publish a response to the consultation setting out our final decisions soon. This will also include a full list of organisations who agreed to attribute their response to their organisation.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timetable is for publishing the outcome of her Department's consultation on the statutory levy on gambling operators, which closed on 14 December 2023.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators will represent a generational change to funding arrangements and a renewed commitment to improving efforts to further understand, tackle and treat harmful gambling. We want to see levy funding directed where it is needed most across research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harms. As set out in our public consultation, the prevention stream could see investment directed for projects to build capacity and expertise in frontline settings to increase responsiveness to gambling harm, including criminal justice settings.
We are now closely considering all evidence received to best guide the implementation of the statutory levy in an effective, fair and proportionate way. We will publish a response to the consultation setting out our final decisions soon. This will also include a full list of organisations who agreed to attribute their response to their organisation.
Asked by: Geoffrey Cox (Conservative - Torridge and West Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish guidance on the tax regime for furnished holiday lets after April 2025.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government will publish draft legislation, explanatory notes, and a tax information and impacts note in due course. These will set out how the announced changes will apply in practice.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of apprenticeship levy networks in improving small businesses’ access to apprenticeship levy funding.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The apprenticeship levy supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. Transfers are a great way for large employers to use their levy funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and charities, to help meet local or sector skills needs. This could include businesses in their supply chain.
The department continues to promote the benefits of levy transfers and has increased the proportion of their funds that levy-paying employers can transfer to support more apprenticeships in other businesses from 25% to 50%. This will help SMEs hire more apprentices by reducing their costs and enabling them to benefit from the support and experience that larger employers can provide.
Hundreds of large levy-paying employers have already taken advantage of the opportunity to transfer their unused levy funds to other businesses. Since September 2021 over 550 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe, and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £37 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes. It is also encouraging to see regional schemes to support local businesses through transfers, including in the West Midlands.
SMEs can also access funding directly from the apprenticeships budget. The department has increased investment in the apprenticeships system in England to over £2.7 billion this financial year to support employers of all sizes, including SMEs. In addition, last year, the department removed the limit to the number of apprentices that SMEs can take on, making it easier for them to grow their businesses. This has already benefitted almost 350 SMEs. The department also now fully funds the costs of training and assessment for new apprentices aged 16 to 21 in small businesses.