Non-National Qualification Bill, Committee Stage, House of Commons, Latest Amendments, May 2023

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Peter Aldous MP’s 13th Amendment is a preparatory amendment to his 14th Amendment, which seeks to exclude companies that have nothing to pay from the duty to notify HMRC and VOA. Also in line with Amendment 14 is Amendment 20 by Helen Morgan MP (Liberal Democrat, North Shropshire), which would exempt businesses receiving the Small Business Fee Relief Waiver from annual reports if there are no changes to report.

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• The LGA supports a duty to report that applies to all businesses, including those that pay nothing, for example, because they receive a 100 percent discount on small business rates. Even if the particular estate doesn’t pay anything, VOA is still required to list it on the qualifying list. Therefore, VOA would have more work to do in the absence of the taxpayer liability that applies to these properties. Also, any changes to the estate could mean you have to pay business fees. Therefore, the LGA does not support these Amendments.

Parliamentary Peter Aldous’s 15th Amendment imposes reciprocal penalties on VOA for failing to notify taxpayers of changes to their rate assessments.

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• VOA is a publicly funded government agency, the effect of these cross-sanctions would be to require more public funds for VOA to provide the same level of service. The LGA has called for the VOA to be properly funded so that there are no delays in dealing with rating challenges.