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  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2016 to Question 26319, what the total amount of arrears recovered by HM Revenue and Customs for non-compliance with the national minimum wage was in 2015-16; how many (a) workers and (b) employers those arrears were related to; and how many of those employers (i) received a financial penalty and (ii) have been named and shamed for that non-compliance.

    Nick Boles

    In 2015-16 the Government recovered almost £10.3m of arrears for over 58,000 workers, from 958 employers. 813 of these employers were issued with a Notice of Underpayment (NoU) and had to pay a penalty.

    In 2015/16, the Government named 280 employers. However, not all cases are put forward for naming, in particular:

    – Where an investigation commenced before the advent of the naming scheme.

    – Where an employer self-corrected the arrears and paid back to workers.

    – Where the arrears owed were £100 or less.

    – Where a case is being considered for criminal prosecution.

    Furthermore, employers are not named at the point when a NoU is issued. Under the National Minimum Wage regulations, employers have 28 days to appeal against an NoU. They then have a further 14 days to make representations to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills against being named. Some of the cases identified in 2015-16 will therefore be considered for naming in future rounds.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many accountancy (a) practitioners and (b) firms are supervised by (i) HM Revenue and Customs and (ii) each of the other accountancy bodies; and how many such practitioners and firms have been (A) investigated for suspected money laundering and (B) struck off as a result of such investigations.

    Mr David Gauke

    There are 15 supervisors of the accountancy service provider (ASP) sector in the United Kingdom, including HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

    13,131 ASPs are registered with HMRC for anti-money laundering supervision. The professional accountancy bodies listed in Schedule 3 to the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 between them supervise 32,069 firms and individuals. Whilst the statistics vary between bodies as to the number of individuals supervised compared to firms, 18,872 of the 32,069 have been identified as individuals.

    HMRC does not record statistics for its investigations in a way that enables figures relating to ASPs to be separately identified. HMRC does not hold data about practitioners and firms investigated or struck off by other supervisory bodies.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) statistics release, Measuring tax gaps 2015 edition: methodological annex, published on 22 October 2015, what proportion of large businesses listed on HMRC’s database have (a) at least once and (b) on seven occasions challenged HMRC’s initial estimate of their tax liability in the period from 2009-10 to 2015-16.

    Greg Hands

    Tax under consideration is HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) estimate of the maximum potential additional tax liability in each case, before they have carried out a full investigation of the specific facts or analysis of relevant law. It is not actual tax either owed or unpaid; it is a tool to guide HMRC enquiries to focus on the most significant risks that exist at any particular time with the largest businesses. In many cases, when HMRC have looked at the full facts it becomes clear that there is some lesser additional liability or even no additional liability at all. Tax under consideration is a snapshot of work in progress and will naturally vary from time to time as outstanding issues are settled and new risks are identified. Tax under consideration covers all taxes, including Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE and National lnsurance contributions. As it is an internal estimate used within HMRC, it is not subject to challenge by large businesses.

    Until 31 March 2014, HMRC’s Large Business Service dealt with the tax affairs of around 800 of the largest businesses in the UK. From 1 April 2014 HMRC’s Large Business directorate deals with the tax affairs of around 2,000 large businesses.

    Snapshots of tax under consideration in each year were:

    HMRC’s Large Business directorate (largest 2,000 businesses):

    31 March 2015 – £19 billion

    HMRC’s Large Business Service (largest 800 businesses):

    31 March 2014 – £15.7 billion

    31 July 2013 – £18.8 billion

    31 July 2012 – £21.3 billion

    31 March 2011 – £25.5 billion

    31 March 2010 – £33.4 billion

    The estimate of total tax under consideration shown in Measuring Tax Gaps Table 7.1, page 62, differs from the figures above for two reasons:

    • it shows tax under consideration for the individual financial years relating to liability

    • it includes corporation tax only.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies in each business sector have been registered with HM Revenue and Customs’ Supervised Business Register in each year since 2009-10; and what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of companies which were not registered with a professional body as required by anti-money laundering regulations in each such year.

    Mr David Gauke

    The number of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) anti-money laundering supervision registrations by sector in each year since 2009 are given in the table below. HMRC does not have an estimate of businesses not registered for supervision that should be, but as part of its supervisory role actively undertakes to identify such businesses by using its own data and working with other supervisors and agencies.

    End of year…

    2009/2010

    2010/2011

    2011/2012

    2012/2013

    2013/2014

    2014/2015

    2015/2016

    Money Service Business registrations*

    3,585

    3,633

    3,691

    3,480

    2,850

    2,373

    2,177

    High Value Dealer registrations

    1,173

    1,193

    1,332

    1,336

    1,294

    1,035

    881

    Accountancy Service Provider registrations

    12,689

    12,941

    13,009

    13,151

    13,246

    13,120

    13,131

    Trust or Company Service Provider registrations

    2,301

    2,340

    2,442

    2,531

    2,577

    2,640

    2,729

    Estate Agency Business registrations**

    7,809

    8,710

    9,305

    Total registrations***

    18,219

    18,570

    18,799

    18,740

    18,182

    26,032

    26,371

    * From 2011/2012, the Money Service Business (MSB) sector includes a very small number of Bill Payment Service Providers (BPSPs) and Telecommunications, Digital and IT Payment Service Providers (TDITPSPs)

    ** Before 2013/2014 Estate Agency Businesses (EABs) were supervised by the Office of Fair Trading. HMRC is now the sole supervisor of EABs.

    *** The sums of sector breakdowns are less than the total registration figures because a business may be registered for more than one sector. HMRC does not double-count businesses when calculating total registrations.

  • Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nick Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Smith on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Catering Services in 1 Horse Guards Road are provided at zero subsidy under our 35 year PFI agreement with Exchequer Partnerships Plc. (EP). Food is procured by a sub-contractor to EP.

    The latest period for which figures are available is July 2014 to September 2015. In this period, 84.81% of dairy products procured were sourced from UK producers.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people accessed personal pensions between (a) April 2015 and April 2016 and (b) April 2014 and April 2015.

    Mr David Gauke

    The Government does not have information on all payments from personal pensions taken since April 2014.

    Information on the taxable element of pension flexibility lump sums taken since April 2015 is collated and published quarterly by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). However, this includes other types of private pensions such as occupational pensions, not just personal pensions. This also provides details of the number of people who have taken these payments. The publication can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/flexible-payments-from-pensions.

    Equivalent information for the period April 2014 to April 2015 is not held, as HMRC only began to collect this information after the introduction of pensions freedom and choice.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer to Question 23205 of 22 January 2016, when the consultation on transposition of the EU’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive will begin.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The consultation on the transposition of the EU’s 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive will take place later this year and, once issued, will run for 12 weeks.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to alert employers to the potential effect of failure to report PAYE correctly and on time on employee’s families with relation to universal credit.

    Mr David Gauke

    Throughout the development of Real Time Information HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) worked closely with employers to highlight the importance of accurate and timely filing for customers, not only from an HMRC perspective but also to ensure accurate awards of Universal Credit. The December 15 Employer Bulletin, issue 57, also alerted employers to the impact that late, missing and incorrect returns can have on Universal Credits.

  • Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what checks his Department makes on PAYE real time information data before it is forwarded to the Department for Work and Pensions to calculate universal credit.

    Mr David Gauke

    Data validation rules are built in to stop obvious errors at the point of filing. In addition, there are matching rules built within the system to ensure that the information matches to the correct customer. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Work and Pensions continually monitor the quality of Real Time Information to understand errors. HMRC uses this information to support customer education and if appropriate develop system enhancements to prevent errors occurring.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Gordon Marsden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2016-05-04.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 April 2016 to Question 35476, whether the apprenticeship levy will be at the rate of 0.5 per cent on employers’ pay bills over £3 million in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.

    Greg Hands

    Tthe government has confirmed that the apprenticeship levy will be set at a rate of 0.5% of company paybill and every employer will have a £15,000 allowance to offset against their levy liability. In practice, this means only employers with paybills greater than £3million will pay the levy. As with all policies, the government will keep the apprenticeship levy under review.