Speeches by Tomlinson.

“I thank the shadow Minister for his engagement during this process. I look forward to discussing further provisions. Question put and agreed to. Clause 274 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clauses 275 to 279 ordered to stand part of the Bill. New Clause 2 Report on the impact of section 28 “(1) The Chance…”

“I fully recognise the intention behind these proposals. Members on both sides of the Committee are rightly focused on how tax changes affect businesses of all sizes, across the economy and across the country. We need to make sure that we provide certainty and stability for businesses, which is what we are doing with ou…”

“I have set this out, but I want to clarify that the tribunal is independent. The head of the tribunal would be an existing first-tier tax tribunal judge. As the hon. Member for Newton Abbot has particular experience and interest in this, I will write to him in more detail on the composition and independence of the tax …”

“One of the challenges here is that asking the Opposition to scrutinise the Government’s record on living standards is like asking the thief to scrutinise the workings of the CCTV—it does not make any sense. Their record was appalling: under the previous Government, we saw the deepest squeeze on living standards of any …”

“Let us be really clear: in this Parliament, we are going to see living standards rise, and we are going to do all we can to beat the forecast that the OBR set out. We beat the economic growth forecast last year by 50%. We know the record of the Conservative party: when it was in power, living standards fell over five y…”

“All I can say to the hon. Member is that HMRC will suspend a tax adviser only after due process, including after offering opportunities to comply and a chance for the adviser to explain if there was a good reason why they were unable to do so. The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Wyre Forest, raised the point aroun…”

“We will engage, and have engaged, with the industries that are directly affected by this change, including the fertiliser industry, and those for whom there will be knock-on effects from higher import prices. With fertiliser in particular, it is worth noting that UK-based fertiliser manufacturers have received more fre…”

“Thank you. Burnley is a fantastic place to visit, and I hope to come before too long. These clauses create the charge to CBAM, define the goods and emissions in scope, identify who is liable, and set out how the tax rate is calculated and how the relief operates. Together they form the substantive charging provisions t…”

“Three quarters will see their business rates fall or stay the same this year. Then, those rates will be frozen for two years. The crucial point, which relates to whether it is delayed or not, is that we are launching a review of the methodology that is used to assess pubs. I am sure that this issue will have come up in…”

“The shadow City Minister is right to raise that important point on this and other issues in this space. It is important that businesses that are acting legitimately and seeking to build the future of this country by engaging with construction contractors and subcontractors are not unduly burdened by changes we make to …”

“Yes, and we extended the relief by a year, at a lower rate, and now, rather than ending it overnight, we have introduced significant transitional relief, so many of the businesses in the hon. Member’s constituency will see their increases, if they experience increases, being capped at 15%. Overall, across the system as…”

“One of the big challenges with these promoters is that, although HMRC often finds different routes to go after them, their non-compliance and the fact they are based overseas make effective enforcement difficult. I am aware of that, and I am sure that the hon. Gentleman and other Opposition Members were aware of it whe…”

“The clause is a key one for going after promoters based offshore, to go to the points made in the debate so far. The Committee is right that it is tricky to go after those based overseas. That is why HMRC is taking this new approach with the promoter action notices, which sever the ability of promoters based overseas t…”

“Clauses 206 to 212 make changes to ensure that HMRC can publish the details of legal professionals involved in designing tax avoidance schemes. A very small number of legal professionals have become involved in the promotion of tax avoidance schemes. They are sometimes involved in designing schemes, including by provid…”

“These clauses introduce a power for HMRC to issue promoter action notices. As my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary outlined, these are another part of our toolkit in pursuing the promoters. The notices require businesses to stop providing goods or services where those services are used in the promotion of avoidance. C…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her question and the representation that she provides in this place for the small businesses in her constituency—it is a wonderful part of the world. If my team have not been in touch already today, I am hoping that we can find time to meet next week for a conversation. I know that this issue…”

“I am always happy to receive representations from Members on both sides of the House. I will look out for correspondence from the hon. Member in my very large weekend correspondence box, which I always enjoy on a Sunday evening.”

“We do have one of the highest VAT thresholds among large economies in Europe and of course the Government keep all tax policy thresholds, rates and so on under review. I would be interested in the analysis that the hon. Member has carried out, though my understanding is that significantly increasing the threshold would…”

“These clauses introduce new powers for HMRC to issue anti-avoidance information notices. The measures are designed to strengthen HMRC’s ability to tackle the persistent problem of tax avoidance by promoters who exploit loopholes and hide behind complex structures. Clauses 174 and 175 define key terms such as “connected…”

“Clause 182(2) sets out: “A requirement under subsection (1)(d) may not prohibit disclosure for, or in connection with, the purpose of— (a) complying with the notice, or (b) seeking legal advice.” It is the Government’s view that that provides sufficient scope for the recipient to be able to disclose information for leg…”