Written question asked by Lord Beecham (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Sassoon (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 December 2010.

Taxation: Patents

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in light of the announcement by GlaxoSmithKline of a £500 million investment programme in the UnitedKingdom and the statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his written forecast that this was a result of the Government’s proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate on profits from newly commercialised patents to 10 per cent, what estimate they have made of the saving to GlaxoSmithKline of this reduction; and what, if any, additional financial support they are providing to this investment programme.

Answer: No such estimate has been made, nor are the Government providing additional financial support to this programme.

Secondary information