Speeches

Seema Malhotra – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Seema Malhotra on 2016-05-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average length of time between an application being made for a Venture Capital Trust Scheme and the scheme taking effect was in each of the last six years.

Mr David Gauke

The average time between a company applying to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for approval as a Venture Capital Trust (VCT) and receiving approval in the last six tax years was as follows:

Tax year

Number of VCTs approved

Average time taken to approve applications (days)

2010-11

16

7

2011-12

6

9

2012-13 to 2015-16

6

16

Notes

  1. The information for the years 2012-13 to 2015-16 has been grouped owing to the low numbers of VCTs seeking approval in each of those years. Disclosure of average times in each of those years could identify specific companies.

  2. The number of VCTs approved each year is provided in order to give context for the averages reported.

  3. The average time includes non-working days such as weekends and public holidays. Fractions of days are rounded up to the nearest day.

  4. The amount of time taken to approve a company as a VCT depends upon the specific facts of each case. Two cases in the period from 2012-13 to 2015-16 had significantly longer approval times, raising the average for this period. If those cases were excluded, the average time would have been 10 days.

  5. A company cannot raise funds from VCT investors until it has been listed on a regulated stock market. HMRC does not hold information about the date of listing although that information is publicly available.