{"value":{"id":1363797,"askingMemberId":1796,"askingMember":null,"house":"Lords","memberHasInterest":false,"dateTabled":"2021-10-26T00:00:00","dateForAnswer":"2021-11-09T00:00:00","uin":"HL3464","questionText":"To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to increase the employment allowance, and (2) to reform upfront costs, such as business rates.","answeringBodyId":14,"answeringBodyName":"Treasury","isWithdrawn":false,"isNamedDay":false,"groupedQuestions":[],"answerIsHolding":false,"answerIsCorrection":false,"answeringMemberId":4689,"answeringMember":null,"correctingMemberId":null,"correctingMember":null,"dateAnswered":"2021-11-09T00:00:00","answerText":"<p>The Employment Allowance (EA) reduces National Insurance contributions (NICs) bills for businesses and charities by up to £4,000 per year. This applies to those whose employer Class 1 NICs liabilities were less than £100,000 in the previous tax year.</p><p> </p><p>Since 2014, businesses and charities throughout the UK have been able to claim the EA, and over 1 million employers benefitted from this relief in the year 2020/21.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has already significantly increased the EA and does not have plans to increase it further. The Government raised the EA from £3,000 to £4,000 in April 2020, benefitting 510,000 businesses. This followed the increase from £2,000 to £3,000 in 2016, meaning the value of the EA doubled in four years.</p><p> </p><p>The Business Rates Review concluded at Autumn Budget 2021 and set out significant new measures to reduce the burden of business rates by £7 billion over the next five years.</p>","originalAnswerText":"","comparableAnswerText":"","dateAnswerCorrected":null,"dateHoldingAnswer":null,"attachmentCount":0,"heading":"National Insurance Contributions","attachments":[],"groupedQuestionsDates":[]},"links":[{"rel":"self","href":"/Questions/1363797","method":"GET"}]}