Finance Bill — House of Commons, 2021-05-24
Topic: Macroeconomics
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 6—Review of impact on corporation tax revenues of global minimum rate of corporation tax— ‘The Chancellor of the Exchequer must within six months of Royal Assent lay before the House of Commons an assessment of the effect on corporation tax revenues in 2022 and 2023 of a global minimum corporation tax rate set at 21%.’ This new clause would require the Government to publish an assessment of the revenue effect of a global minimum corporation tax rate of 21%. New clause 12—Review of impact of Act on investment— ‘(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must review the impact on investment in parts of the United Kingdom and regions of England of the changes made by this Act and lay a report of that review before the House of Commons within six months of the passing of this Act (2) A review under this section must consider the effects of the changes on— (a) business investment, (b) employment, (c) productivity, (d) GDP growth, and (e) poverty (3) A review under this section must consider the following scenarios— (a) the United Kingdom reaches an agreement with OECD countries on a minimum international level of corporation tax, and (b) the United Kingdom does not reach an agreement with OECD countries on a minimum international level of corporation tax (4) In this section— "parts of the United Kingdom" means— (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, and (d) Northern Ireland; and "regions of England" has the same meaning as that used by the Office for National Statistics.’ This new clause would require a report on the effect of the changes in the Act on investment, comparing scenarios in which (a) the United Kingdom reaches an agreement with OECD countries on a minimum international level of corporation tax and (b) the United Kingdom does not reach an agreement with OECD countries on a minimum international level of corporation tax on various economic indicators. New clause 22—Eligibility for tax reliefs— ‘(1) For the purposes of Clauses 9 to 14 and 109 to 111 no tax reliefs shall apply to companies registered or with subsidiary companies registered in countries or jurisdictions listed in the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (2) The Secretary of State shall also have the power to list additional jurisdictions or countries as non-cooperative jurisdictions for the purposes of subsection (1) that he/she perceives to be non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes.’ This new clause would stop companies registered, or with subsidiary companies registered, in tax havens from benefiting from the UK Government tax reliefs in this Bill. Amendment 1, in clause 9, page 4, line 2, at end insert "provided that any such company which has more than £1 million in qualifying expenditure must also make a climate-related financial disclosure in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures within the 2021/22 tax year." This amendment would, in respect of companies with qualifying expenditure of over £1 million, add a condition relating to climate-related financial disclosure to the conditions that must be met in order for expenditure to qualify for super-deductions. Amendment 29, page 4, line 2, at end insert "provided that any such company must also not be liable to the digital services tax" Amendment 30, page 4, line 2, at end insert "provided that any such company which has more than £1 million in qualifying expenditure must also— (i) adhere to International Labour Organisation convention 98 on the right to organise and collective bargaining, and (ii) be certified or be in the process of being certified by the Living Wage Foundation as a living wage employer." Government amendment 2 Amendment 31, page 5, line 15, at end insert— "(11) Expenditure shall not be qualifying expenditure under this section if it is incurred by a company which has at any time been involved in arrangements giving rise to a liability for diverted profits tax, or which would give rise to such a liability but for the effect of section 83 of Finance Act 2015 (12) For the purposes of subsection (11), involvement in arrangements shall include being connected within the meaning of section 1122 Corporation Tax Act 2010 to any company involved in such arrangements." This amendment would bar multinationals with a history of corporate tax avoidance from accessing super-deductions.