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11 Jun 2009 : Column 982W—continued
Tax Avoidance
David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely effects of clause 37 of Schedule 17 to the Finance Bill will have on HM Revenue and Customs' ability to prevent tax avoidance. [278998]
Mr. Timms: Clause 37 and Schedule 17 introduce a reporting requirement for business that replaces the current Treasury Consent rules. This will provide HM Revenue and Customs with early notice of high value cross-border transactions that change the capital structure of multinational groups. This information will be used in considering whether these transactions may have been put in place to avoid tax, and complements other existing anti-avoidance measures. The information provided will also inform policy making, enabling legislation to be introduced where necessary to close down avoidance schemes.
Taxation: Investment Income
Mr. Sanders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the effect on Exchequer revenue of raising the dividend ordinary tax rate to 20 per cent. and the dividend upper tax rate to 40 per cent. [275817]
Mr. Timms: Raising the dividend ordinary and upper rates to 20 per cent. and 40 per cent. respectively is likely to involve significant behavioural effects. The estimated yield incorporating these behaviour costs can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Taxation: Rebates
Philip Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what targets have been set in respect of the time taken by HM Revenue and Customs to process applications for tax refunds; and what the average time taken to process such applications was in each year since 2005. [278807]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) seek to strike a balance between issuing repayments as quickly as possible for the benefit of customers and ensuring that the Exchequer is adequately protected against fraud. Therefore some tax repayment claims are subject to security checks, which may delay repayments from being made.
Refunds made from online self-assessment (income tax and capital gains tax) returns are normally made within seven days. For paper returns, HMRC identify returns on receipt marked ‘repayment’ and process these as priority. Sampling of income tax self-assessment repayments from October 2008 to April 2009 indicates that 90 per cent. of repayments are consistently made within 30 days.
Inheritance tax and national insurance contribution repayments are processed in line with and meet the HMRC’s departmental objective 2, i.e. 80 per cent. of cases to be cleared within 15 working days and 95 per cent. to be cleared within 40 working days.
For PAYE, 99.3 per cent. of repayment claims arising from tax on investment income deducted at source in 2008-09 were processed within 15 working days of receipt against a target of 97 per cent.
Refunds processed from online self-assessment corporation tax returns are normally made within seven days.
Full data for previous years is not available.
VAT: Sunscreens
Mr. Bruce George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenue accrued to the Exchequer from value added tax on sun protection products in (a) 2005-06, (b) 2006-07 and (c) 2007-08. [278797]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect data on VAT from individual goods and services.
Welfare Tax Credits: Telephone Services
John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will allocate 0300 telephone prefixes to (a) the Tax Credit Helpline and (b) the Child Benefit Helpline; and if he will estimate the likely level of savings to (i) his Department and (ii) service users of introducing such a change. [278375]
Mr. Timms: HM Revenue and Customs operates 0845 numbers for the majority of its customers facing helplines and has no immediate plans to allocate 0300 telephone prefixes to the tax credit helpline or the child benefit helpline.
HMRC keeps its numbering strategy under regular review. However, there is no single numbering solution that meets all of HMRC’s customers’ needs, as call charges to customers are dependent on the tariff arrangements they have with their service provider, the device they use for the call and the location from which they call.
The differing tariff arrangements for customers mean that HMRC is unable to estimate the overall likely savings of any such change to service users. Some customers will pay more, others will pay less and for others there will be no change.
Energy and Climate Change
Air Pollution: Airports
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps are being taken to include emissions of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide from aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. [278649]
Joan Ruddock:
During the negotiation of European directive 2008/101/EC, which includes aviation in the EU emissions trading system, UK-led pressure secured a commitment from the European Commission to come
forward with a proposal to regulate nitrogen oxide emissions from aviation. A proposal has not yet been tabled, but the UK continues to press the Commission to produce one.
Carbon Emissions
Sir Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure the co-ordination of information from Government departments and agencies in respect of energy efficiency; and if he will make a statement. [269520]
Joan Ruddock: Since 2007, the Government have run high-profile marketing campaigns to engage citizens on climate change issues. These serve to address the confusion and powerlessness which can impede people from taking action, and encourage genuine and sustained behaviour change to help reduce carbon emissions and meet the UK emissions targets.
These campaigns have been run under the umbrella of ACT ON CO2, a Government-led and multi-partnered behaviour change brand, which aims to provide clarity and consistency across different communications on climate change and, by extension, energy efficiency. The ACT ON CO2 website aims to signpost, interact, coordinate and engage consumers on climate change, providing a clear, consistent, authoritative and credible voice. The website allows other Government departments to build and add further climate change information as and when necessary.
The ACT ON CO2 website, which includes a carbon footprint calculator as the key engagement tool, supports and amplifies all campaign activity. In running the website, DECC aims to maximise opportunities to ‘cross-sell’ behaviour messages between all climate change communications from Government departments, NGOs and other partners. DECC, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Transport, Communities and Local Government, the Energy Saving Trust and the Carbon Trust all provide information and advice or run campaigns, or both, under ACT ON CO2. An ACT ON CO2 toolkit has been developed to help facilitate a consistent message and approach.
Additionally DECC is in regular contact with other relevant Government departments and delivery bodies such as the Energy Saving Trust and Carbon Trust to share communication plans and identify potential opportunities to work together to the benefit of consumers. DECC explicitly instructs its media buying agencies to avoid clashes in scheduling of advertising.
DECC also shares analyses and findings on energy savings of various energy saving technologies with the Energy Saving Trust to ensure a consistent approach.
The Government also provide a range of information and support to help businesses improve their energy efficiency, including through the Carbon Trust and Regional Development Agencies. We are taking steps to make that information easier to access through Business Link website at:
as part of the cross-Government Solutions for Business programme.
Fuel Poverty: Elderly
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009, Official Report, column 1481W, on fuel poverty, what percentage of fuel poor homes in (a) the North West Region and (b) the UK are the primary residence of at least one person over 65 years. [278050]
Joan Ruddock: The most recent year for which estimates of fuel poverty are available is 2006. Around 36 per cent. of fuel poor households in the North West Region contained at least one person aged 65 or over. In England, 45 per cent. of fuel poor households contained at least one person aged 65 or over. Comparable figures are not available for the UK.
Fuel Poverty: North West
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009, Official Report, column 1481W, on fuel poverty, how many fuel poor households there are in each local authority area in the North West. [278051]
Joan Ruddock: The most recent year for which estimates of fuel poverty are available at sub-regional level is 2003. This sub-regional data for fuel poverty levels in 2003 come from the Fuel Poverty Indicator dataset, available online at:
Fuel poverty figures for local authorities in the North West are shown as follows for 2003:
| Number | |
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Transport
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of UK (a) carbon dioxide and (b) other greenhouse gas emissions arising from (i) road travel, (ii) rail travel, (iii) domestic energy use, (iv) agriculture, (v) shipping and (vi) hovercraft in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [278447]
Joan Ruddock: The 2007 estimates of UK greenhouse gas emissions were published on 3 February 2009. These statistics represent the most up-to-date information available, and can be accessed from the following link at:
The proportion of UK greenhouse gas emissions from (i) road transport, (ii) railways, (iii) residential use, (iv) agriculture and (v) domestic shipping in each year since 1997 are shown in the following table. Please note that statistics for emissions from hovercrafts are included within the domestic shipping sector.
These percentages are based on emissions calculated on an ‘End User’ basis i.e. the emissions are reallocated from the production and distribution of energy to the users of that energy.
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