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  • Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Revenue and Customs are taking to stop illegal fuel laundering and smuggling in Northern Ireland.

    Damian Hinds

    The government is committed to reducing revenue loss due to fuel duty fraud in Northern Ireland. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a comprehensive anti-fraud strategy in place that has helped drive down the estimated illicit market for diesel in Northern Ireland (NI) from 26% to 8% since its launch in 2002. Autumn Statement 2013 also announced the expansion of HMRC Road Fuel Testing Unit and Criminal Investigation capacity in NI and GB.

    The fight against fraud will be further enhanced by the new rebated fuel marker introduced in April 2015, which makes it much harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.

    HMRC also works closely with the Revenue Commissioners in the Republic of Ireland to fight fuel fraud on a wide range of fronts. This multi-agency approach includes regular exchange of information and joint operational activity. Ireland have also introduce the same new marker as the UK.

  • Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tax revenue was lost as a result of tobacco smuggling in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

    Damian Hinds

    Estimates of revenue losses associated with the tobacco illicit market are published in ‘Tobacco Tax Gap estimates: 2014-15’. The combined figures for Cigarettes and Hand Rolling Tobacco are available in table 1.1

    These estimates cannot be disaggregated by country within the UK.

    The methodology for producing the estimates are provided in the ‘Methodological Annex for Measuring Tax Gaps 2015’.

    Both documents can be accessed via the following page on the HMRC website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/measuring-tax-gaps

    “

  • Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Elliott – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tax revenue was lost as a result of tobacco smuggling in the UK in each of the last three years.

    Damian Hinds

    Estimates of revenue losses associated with the tobacco illicit market are published in ‘Tobacco Tax Gap estimates: 2014-15’. The combined figures for Cigarettes and Hand Rolling Tobacco are available in table 1.1

    The methodology for producing the estimates are provided in the ‘Methodological Annex for Measuring Tax Gaps 2015’.

    Both documents can be accessed via the following page on the HMRC website:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/measuring-tax-gaps

    “

  • Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Paul Blomfield – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 10809, how many enforcement actions involving victims of modern slavery have been undertaken since February 2015.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) participates in multi-agency investigations into cases of Modern Slavery where there are potential tax or National Minimum Wage offences. Since February this year, HMRC has opened 60 tax investigations in cases where Modern Slavery is suspected.

  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to revise the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) memorandum of understanding to permit the Government to request changes to OBR publications over and above factual comments on the presentation of analysis and forecasts; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    There are currently no plans to revise the memorandum of understanding (MoU) to permit the Government to request changes over and above factual comments on the presentation of analysis and forecasts. Were there to be any changes to the MoU these must be approved by all its signatories – HM Treasury, the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and the OBR.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials of his Department are responsible for work directly relating to the Department for Work and Pensions.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Treasury’s business covers matters relating to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in a number of areas such as welfare, spending and pensions. As such it is not possible to give a definitive number of people who are responsible for work directly relating to DWP. The Treasury is appropriately resourced to achieve its strategic objectives in this area.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of armed forces veterans are in receipt of tax credits.

    Damian Hinds

    I refer the member to the answer I provided on 28 October 2015 to question 25228:

    http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons&use-dates=True&uin=13031

    “

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many regulated Retail Financial Advisory firms there are; and how many have five or more financial advisers working for them.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply to you directly by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Nigel Dodds – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implementation of the recommendations on money laundering and terrorism financing of the G7 Financial Action Task Force.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The international standards for anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing are set by the Financial Action Task Force of which the UK is a leading member. The UK has a comprehensive anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime, and we are committed to ensuring our financial system is a hostile environment for criminal finances. The UK was last assessed by the FATF in 2007 and our high level of compliance with the standards exempted us from the detailed follow-up most countries must complete. The UK will next be evaluated beginning in 2017 and the Treasury and Home Office are already making the necessary preparations for this assessment.

    To this end, the Government recently published the UK’s first National Risk Assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing which is a requirement of the FATF standards. We are now preparing an Action Plan to address the findings of the NRA. The Action Plan will be a core component of our preparations for our FATF evaluation.

    The FATF has now completed fourth round evaluations of Spain, Belgium, Norway, Australia, and Malaysia to assess both technical compliance and effectiveness. These reports, and those of the previous rounds, are publicly available on the FATF website (www.fatf-gafi.org).

  • Joanna Cherry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Joanna Cherry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joanna Cherry on 2015-10-28.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken for HM Revenue and Customs to respond to a request for a paper tax form was in the last 12 months.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs does not hold this information.