Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Hamas (including its military wing, the Izz-al-Din al-Qassem Brigades) is subject to an EU asset freeze under Council Regulation (EC) No. 2580/2001. The Terrorism (United Nations Measures) Order 2009 provides enforcement provisions in the UK in respect of this Regulation. Hamas' military wing is also proscribed in the UK. As such, any financial institutions or other persons that hold or...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Treasury Ministers have discussions with a variety of individuals and organisations, including international partners, as part of the process of policy development and delivery on counter-terrorist finance. As with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such discussions.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is authorised to investigate money laundering under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, as was the former HM Customs and Excise (HMCE). HMRC officers investigate money laundering with their own resources, and will not generally make disclosures to another agency. However where HMRC (and previously HMCE) detect money laundering that is related to offences which are...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Details of opposition policy costings undertaken by the Department are contained in two FOI releases published in February on the Department's website. They can be found at the following addresses: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/foi_opposition_costings_170210 .htm http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/foi_opposition_costings_050210 .htm
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Estimated stamp duty land tax (SDLT) receipts for purchases over £500,000, available at: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/stamp_duty/table15-3.xls are given in the following table for years from 1997-98: Estimated SDLT( 1 ) receipts £ million 1997-98 640 1998-99 1,140 1999-2000 1,580 2000-01 1,930 2001-02 1,885 2002-03 2,050 2003-04 2,125 2004-05 2,825...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Neither HM Treasury nor UK Financial Investments collects or holds such information.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information requested is not readily available and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The HM Treasury (HMT) general public enquiry telephone lines are operated by HMT staff as part of wider public-facing services and are therefore not subject to contractual agreements.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The costs of the ISA limit increases were published at Budget 2009 in Table A1 at: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/bud09_completereport_2520.pdf
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: At Budget 2009 the Government launched a consultation on modernising landfill tax legislation. The consultation sought stakeholder views on proposals designed to ensure that landfill tax remains an effective means of reducing the volume of waste that goes to landfill; those proposals included the possibility of redefining the qualifying criteria for the lower rate of tax. A non-interpretative...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: It is not possible using landfill tax receipts data to determine how much revenue is received from local authorities. This is because registered landfill site operators pay the tax to HM Revenue and Customs and pass on the cost to their customers through the disposal charges they set. The origin of the landfilled waste is not recorded on the tax return.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Estimates of the number of residential and non-residential transactions chargeable to stamp duty on land and property are given for England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 1997-98 to 2001-02. An estimate is not available for Scotland for these years. For the years 2002-03 to 2004-05, estimates of the number of transactions chargeable to stamp duty land tax are given for the UK and estimated...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Stamp duty land tax disadvantaged areas relief is available in almost 2,000 areas of the United Kingdom. The qualifying areas for relief are set out in the Stamp Duty (Disadvantaged Areas) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/3747). The relief applies to land transactions involving residential property where the chargeable consideration for the transaction does not exceed £150,000.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The credit guarantee scheme (CGS) was introduced as part of a package of measures to support the stability of the banking system and to protect savers and depositors. The scheme makes available, to eligible institutions, a Government guarantee of new short and medium-term debt issuance of up to three years' maturity. As announced at the pre-Budget report in 2009, the CGS closed for new...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: HM Treasury's accounting system does not identify spending by event and the information for HM Treasury and the Office of Government Commerce could not be provided within the disproportionate costs threshold. The Debt Management Office held just one official hospitality event in the past three years to mark the 10th anniversary of the organisation at a cost of £9,000.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Both HM Treasury and UK Financial investments officials hold frequent discussions with the Royal Bank of Scotland on a range of topics. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of such discussions.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Diversion of alcohol without payment of excise duty is the most prevalent form of alcohol fraud. Estimates of tax losses are produced by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) annually for spirits, the latest of which are published in 'Measuring Tax Gaps-2009'. This publication is available in the House of Commons Library. Reliable estimates for wine and beer are not yet available. In Budget 2009, the...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: HM Treasury seeks to answer all parliamentary questions that do not incur disproportionate cost. Disproportionate cost is determined via a disproportionate cost threshold (DCT). The current DCT is £800, announced in Parliament by ministerial statement on the 20 January 2010. The calculation of DCT is based on eight times the average marginal cost of answering written PQs. Marginal cost...
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The "Debt and Reserves Management Report 2010-11" is being published today. Copies have been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The pre-Budget report announced £50 million to fund a £400 incentive to help up to 125,000 residential consumers who live in owned or privately rented homes in England to upgrade their boiler. Treasury Ministers meet with colleagues regularly to discuss a range of issues as part of the process of policy development and delivery.