The National Insurance Contributions Bill is in the final stages of progressing through Parliament with amendments passing back and forth between the Commons and Lords.
The House of Commons has approved the following 10 amendments to the Bill that were tabled by the government in the Lords:
Lords amendments 1, 3, and 5–9, which legislate for the upper secondary thresholds at which employers that qualify for the freeports and veterans reliefs start to pay NICs. The freeport upper threshold is £25,000 for the 2022–23 tax year. The veterans threshold is £50,270 for tax years 2021–22 and 2022–23.
Lords amendments 10, 11 and 12, which provide for additional parliamentary scrutiny over certain powers in the Bill.
The Commons rejected two opposition amendments to Bill (amendments 2 and 4) that had previously been accepted in the House of Lords. Those amendments would have (1) required businesses qualifying for NICs relief in freeport tax sites to maintain a public record of beneficial ownership, and (2) empowered the Treasury to amend the eligibility period attached to zero-rate relief for armed forces veterans.
Both were rejected for the formal reason that they would ‘affect a charge on the public revenue’. The financial secretary to the Treasury set out the UK government’s more detailed rationale for rejecting these amendments during the Commons debate on 1 March.
The National Insurance Contributions Bill is in the final stages of progressing through Parliament with amendments passing back and forth between the Commons and Lords.
The House of Commons has approved the following 10 amendments to the Bill that were tabled by the government in the Lords:
Lords amendments 1, 3, and 5–9, which legislate for the upper secondary thresholds at which employers that qualify for the freeports and veterans reliefs start to pay NICs. The freeport upper threshold is £25,000 for the 2022–23 tax year. The veterans threshold is £50,270 for tax years 2021–22 and 2022–23.
Lords amendments 10, 11 and 12, which provide for additional parliamentary scrutiny over certain powers in the Bill.
The Commons rejected two opposition amendments to Bill (amendments 2 and 4) that had previously been accepted in the House of Lords. Those amendments would have (1) required businesses qualifying for NICs relief in freeport tax sites to maintain a public record of beneficial ownership, and (2) empowered the Treasury to amend the eligibility period attached to zero-rate relief for armed forces veterans.
Both were rejected for the formal reason that they would ‘affect a charge on the public revenue’. The financial secretary to the Treasury set out the UK government’s more detailed rationale for rejecting these amendments during the Commons debate on 1 March.
