Speeches

Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-02-01.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies have been subject to a diverted profits charge since its introduction.

Mr David Gauke

The Diverted Profits Tax is designed to counter contrived tax arrangements used by some multinationals to shift their profits to other countries. It is deliberately set at a higher rate than corporation tax, so it acts as a deterrent and encourages more companies to pay corporation tax.

To date no companies have been issued with a charging notice under section 95 Finance Act 2015 which brings diverted profits tax into charge. However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) received notifications from eleven companies under section 92 in relation to section 86 Finance Act 2015 over the period 1 April 2015 to 31 December 2015.

For companies with accounting periods ending on or before 31 March 2016 the notification period is six months from the end of that period. HMRC is not able to disclose details of notifications relating to sections 80 and 81 of the Finance Act 2015 due to its duty to protect taxpayer confidentiality.