HM Treasury is the government’s economic and finance ministry, maintaining control over public spending, setting the direction of the UK’s economic policy and working to achieve strong and sustainable economic growth.
This inquiry will examine quantitative tightening, including its impact on the economy and its fiscal costs. It will also investigate …
Oral Answers to Questions is a regularly scheduled appearance where the Secretary of State and junior minister will answer at the Dispatch Box questions from backbench MPs
Other Commons Chamber appearances can be:Westminster Hall debates are performed in response to backbench MPs or e-petitions asking for a Minister to address a detailed issue
Written Statements are made when a current event is not sufficiently significant to require an Oral Statement, but the House is required to be informed.
HM Treasury does not have Bills currently before Parliament
A Bill to Authorise the use of resources for the year ending with 31 March 2026; to authorise both the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund and the application of income for that year; and to appropriate the supply authorised for that year by this Act and by the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act 2025.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 21st July 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision about secondary Class 1 contributions.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 3rd April 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision about finance.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 20th March 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to amend the Crown Estate Act 1961.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 11th March 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to Authorise the use of resources for the years ending with 31 March 2024, 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2026; to authorise the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund for those years; and to appropriate the supply authorised by this Act for the years ending with 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 11th March 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision for loans or other financial assistance to be provided to, or for the benefit of, the government of Ukraine.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 16th January 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to impose duties on the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility in respect of the announcement of fiscally significant measures.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 10th September 2024 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to authorise the use of resources for the year ending with 31 March 2025; to authorise both the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund and the application of income for that year; and to appropriate the supply authorised for that year by this Act and by the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act 2024.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 30th July 2024 and was enacted into law.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000
Gov Responded - 20 Feb 2025 Debated on - 12 May 2025Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12570 to £20000. We think this would help low earners to get off benefits and allow pensioners a decent income.
Don't change inheritance tax relief for working farms
Gov Responded - 5 Dec 2024 Debated on - 10 Feb 2025We think that changing inheritance tax relief for agricultural land will devastate farms nationwide, forcing families to sell land and assets just to stay on their property. We urge the government to keep the current exemptions for working farms.
Don't apply VAT to independent school fees, or remove business rates relief.
Gov Responded - 20 Dec 2024 Debated on - 3 Mar 2025Prevent independent schools from having to pay VAT on fees and incurring business rates as a result of new legislation.
Commons Select Committees are a formally established cross-party group of backbench MPs tasked with holding a Government department to account.
At any time there will be number of ongoing investigations into the work of the Department, or issues which fall within the oversight of the Department. Witnesses can be summoned from within the Government and outside to assist in these inquiries.
Select Committee findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations.
On the Government LISA contribution, LISA holders can receive a generous 25% government bonus on contributions up to £4,000 per year. This means an individual who made the full contribution would receive a £1,000 bonus from the Government.
On the age limits, the LISA is designed to encourage younger people to get into the habit of saving for the longer-term. Individuals who did not open a LISA before the age of 40 are still able to save in another ISA type and benefit from the annual subscription limit of £20,000. They can also contribute to a pension, where their contributions will generally receive significant tax relief from the Government.
Those who opened a LISA before their 40th birthday can continue to subscribe until they are 50 and can continue managing their account beyond that date. This includes transferring the account to another LISA manager and changing their investment profile from cash to stocks and shares or vice versa.
The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review, and considers all representations made carefully, with any changes made as part of the Budget process.
On the Government LISA contribution, LISA holders can receive a generous 25% government bonus on contributions up to £4,000 per year. This means an individual who made the full contribution would receive a £1,000 bonus from the Government.
On the age limits, the LISA is designed to encourage younger people to get into the habit of saving for the longer-term. Individuals who did not open a LISA before the age of 40 are still able to save in another ISA type and benefit from the annual subscription limit of £20,000. They can also contribute to a pension, where their contributions will generally receive significant tax relief from the Government.
Those who opened a LISA before their 40th birthday can continue to subscribe until they are 50 and can continue managing their account beyond that date. This includes transferring the account to another LISA manager and changing their investment profile from cash to stocks and shares or vice versa.
The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review, and considers all representations made carefully, with any changes made as part of the Budget process.
The Government recognises the vital role that hospitality businesses such as restaurants and pubs play in supporting the UK’s economy and communities, including in Romford.
As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with ratable values (RVs) below £500,000 from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that small hospitality businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
In addition, we
The Government recognises the vital role that hospitality businesses such as restaurants and pubs play in supporting the UK’s economy and communities, including in Romford.
As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with ratable values (RVs) below £500,000 from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that small hospitality businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
In addition, we
HMRC publishes annual statistics which provide information about the company cars provided as benefits in kind to employees by employers, including the proportion of the company car stock which is electric. The most recent statistics were published in June 2024 for the tax year 2022-23, which showed that 220,000 company cars were fully electric, or 29% of the total company car stock, an increase from 50,000 in 2020-21.
The Government recognises that Company Car Tax Regime and salary sacrifice exemption for ultra-low and zero emission vehicles continues to play an important role in the EV transition. The Government is committed to supporting the transition to electric vehicles, and generous company car tax rates for electric cars have been a key incentive for increasing their number on the road. Electric company cars also play a significant role in supporting the used EV markets. At the end of their lease company cars are sold into the used markets, which is where the majority of car sales take place in the UK.
More widely, the UK has a range of measures to support people to transition to zero emission vehicles, including the plug-in grant for vans and support for charging infrastructure across all of England.
The Government has more recently announced the new Electric Car Grant, which supports drivers to purchase ZEVs with grants of up to £3,750. The grant will help save drivers money and get more of them buying EVs, whilst helping the Government to deliver its environmental commitments.
The Government keeps all taxes including benefit in kind taxation of electric vehicles under review.
The Government recently consulted on proposals to reform Landfill Tax to ensure the regime remains effective in encouraging waste to be diverted away from landfill and to support the Government’s circular economy objectives. As part of the consultation, the Government has received a wide range of views from stakeholders, including representatives from the chemical manufacturing sector. The consultation closed on 28 July, and the Government is considering responses and will set out next steps in due course.
The Government recently consulted on proposals to reform Landfill Tax to ensure the regime remains effective in encouraging waste to be diverted away from landfill and to support the Government’s circular economy objectives. As part of the consultation, the Government has received a wide range of views from stakeholders, including from businesses that are engaged in environmentally responsible waste management practices. The consultation closed on 28 July, and the Government is considering responses and will set out next steps in due course.
The government recognises the critical role the motor finance market plays in allowing people to own their own vehicle. The government is engaging with a broad range of stakeholders to monitor issues in the motor finance market.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK which includes data on imports of e-bikes. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com).
From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria.
Classification codes (according to the Harmonised System) are available to assist you in accessing published trade statistics data in the UK Global Tariff. Goods moving to and from the UK are identified by commodity codes. These are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. E-bikes are classified within commodity codes 87116010 and 87116090. However, these commodity codes will also include similar types of electric transportation such as e-scooters.
If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.
Figures on the resource and capital outturns, estimates and forecasts for Parliamentary Bodies over the Spending Review period - including for the Restoration and Renewal of Parliament - are provided in the table below. The figures in future years can change. The budgets for Parliamentary Bodies are set by Parliament.
| Outturn 2023-24 (£m)* | Outturn 2024-25 (£m)* | Plans 2025-26 (£m)** | Plans 2026-27 (£m) | Plans 2027-28 (£m) | Plans 2028-29 (£m) | Plans 2029-30 (£m) |
Resource | 567.7 | 602.8 | 634.6 | 643.7 | 651.6 | 657.3 | - |
Capital | 167.1 | 187.1 | 233.7 | 257.0 | 267.2 | 278.0 | 291.3 |
*Excludes non-cash ringfence
**Main Estimate, excludes non-cash ringfence
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned increase in line with inflation for 2025/26. The temporary 5p cut is scheduled to expire in March 2026. The Government carefully considers the impact of fuel duty on households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned increase in line with inflation for 2025/26. The temporary 5p cut is scheduled to expire in March 2026. The Government carefully considers the impact of fuel duty on households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
Most unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension will form part of a person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6 April 2027. This removes distortions resulting from changes that have been made to pensions tax policy over the last decade, which have led to pensions being openly used and marketed as a tax planning vehicle to transfer wealth, rather than as a way to fund retirement.
Estates will continue to benefit from the normal nil-rate bands, reliefs, and exemptions available. For example, the nil-rate bands mean an estate can pass on up to £1 million with no inheritance tax liability and the general rules mean any transfers, including the payment of death benefits, to a spouse or civil partner are fully exempt from inheritance tax. More than 90 per cent of UK estates will continue to have no inheritance tax liability in 2029-30 following these changes and the reforms will only affect a minority of those with inheritable pension wealth. Around 213,000 estates are expected to have inheritable pension wealth in 2027-28, with only 10,500 estates becoming liable to pay inheritance tax as a result of these reforms, and around 38,500 paying more than would previously have been the case.
The Government is continuing to incentivise pensions for their intended purpose of funding retirement.
HMT and central government do not hold any cryptoassets.
The seizure, recovery and management of cryptoassets, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, is for independent law enforcement and the courts to consider.
In July 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer instructed HM Treasury officials to undertake an audit of public spending. The audit’s findings showed a forecast overspend on departmental spending of £21.9 billion above the totals that had been set at Spring Budget 2024.
Taking immediate action to respond to the spending pressure, the government cancelled unfunded policy announcements made by the previous government, including the Restoring Your Railway programme.
The full Spending Audit summary can be found on GOV.UK.
The OBR conducted a review into the Spring Budget 2024 forecast which is available on their website, setting out that if the OBR had been aware of the scale of pressures at the time, they would have reached a “materially different judgement about...spending in 2024-2025”
Policy in respect of Public Service Pension Schemes in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive.
HM Treasury applies rigorous scrutiny when approving special severance payments.
(a) Simon Case’s severance payment was approved by the Chief Secretary in March 2025.
(b) Alex Chisholm’s severance payment was approved by HM Treasury officials in accordance with published guidance.
Decisions regarding the implementation of pay awards for doctors and dentists in Northern Ireland are a devolved matter and are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive.
The Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that pubs benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
These new multipliers cannot be lower than 20p less than the small business multiplier. These legislative minimum rates should not be taken as the intended rates for the new multipliers. Rather, they provide flexibility to adapt to the outcomes of the 2026 revaluation.
The Government is carefully considering the impact of the new business rates multipliers on different RHL businesses. The rates will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take the revaluation into account, as well as the economic and fiscal context.
In general, employment income is taxable in the year of receipt, which is not always the year that the work was carried out.
This is an important principle of the tax system ensuring clarity and consistency in the treatment of employment income as set out in Section 18 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003.
The Chancellor discusses a variety of issues with Ministers from other government departments throughout the year.
The figure for the cost of collecting Inheritance Tax (pence per pound collected) for 2024/25 is 0.78. This means as a proportion of total Inheritance Tax revenue, the administrative cost of collecting Inheritance Tax was 0.78% in that year.
The government consulted on proposals for reform of Landfill Tax on 28 April following a call for evidence in 2021 under the previous government, to ensure the regime remains effective in encouraging waste diversion from landfill and to support our environmental goals. The consultation closed on 28 July and the government is considering responses and will set out next steps, including a summary of responses, in due course.
As part of the consultation, the Government has received a wide range of views from stakeholders, including representatives from the construction sector. HM Treasury is working across government to assess potential impacts on housing delivery. This government is committed to delivering 1.5 million homes over 5 years as set out in the Plan for Change. Any final proposals will be designed to maintain the environmental effectiveness of the tax while supporting these plans.
The carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) will be introduced on 1 January 2027 to address the risk of carbon leakage.
Carbon leakage occurs when production and associated emissions shift from one country to another due to different levels of decarbonisation effort, for example, as a result of carbon pricing and climate regulation.
The CBAM will place a carbon price on specific industrial goods imported to the UK from the aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen and iron & steel sectors that are at risk of carbon leakage, to ensure they face a comparable carbon price to those produced in the UK.
This will support UK decarbonisation efforts to lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas, and give industry confidence to invest in the UK knowing their decarbonisation efforts will not be undermined.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. The UK’s VAT rate of 20 per cent is close to the OECD average of 19.3 per cent. The UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU country and the joint highest in the OECD, at £90,000. This keeps the majority of small businesses out of the VAT regime altogether.
This Government is committed to improving the quality and sustainability of our housing stock, through improvements such as low carbon heating, insulation, solar panels, and batteries. This will be vital to making the UK more energy resilient and meeting our 2050 Net Zero commitment.
Installations of qualifying energy-saving materials (ESMs) in residential accommodation and buildings used solely for a charitable purpose benefit from a temporary VAT zero rate until March 2027, after which they will revert to the reduced rate of VAT at five per cent.
The Government assesses whether to add ESMs to this relief by evaluating them against the following principles: the primary purpose of the technology must be to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions; and relieving the technology of VAT must be cost effective and align with broader VAT principles.
Supplies of welfare services, including the provision of care for people with permanent disabilities and dementia, are exempt from VAT if they are supplied by eligible bodies, such as public bodies or charities.
When developing policy, including on VAT on welfare services, the Treasury carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing any of the nine protected characteristics, including disability, age, sex and race, in line with its statutory obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty set out in the Equality Act 2010.
More generally, VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimate the size of the tax gap, which is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. The tax gap statistics and details of the estimate methodologies are published annually and are available at: Measuring tax gaps 2025 edition: tax gap estimates for 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK
Table 7.1 of the online tables shows the illustrative tax gap time series by behaviour, including evasion. The tax gap for evasion was £6.4 billion in tax year 2023 to 2024. The online tables are available at: Measuring tax gaps tables - GOV.UK.
HMRC does not separately estimate the tax gap due to tax evasion facilitated by the financial services sector.
There are several triggers that result in PAYE repayments.
Where a customer submits a PAYE repayment claim, these are treated as priority post. HMRC have an agreed and published service standard to respond to 80% of priority post within 15 working days. HMRC’s performance has improved from 68.6% in April 2025 to 81% in August 2025.
Repayments can also be generated by the provision of updated information from third parties, including employers, and following the tax year end reconciliation of customer accounts. At the tax year end, HMRC proactively check customers have paid the correct amount of tax and this can result in repayments. HMRC aim to complete this reconciliation by the end of the tax year and did this for over 99% of customers last year.
Where a PAYE repayment is due, HMRC provides the customer with the calculation of repayment (form P800) and, where eligible, invites them to go online to receive the payment electronically.
Where customers claim PAYE repayments online direct to their bank account, HMRC aim to process these within 5 working days. In 2024/25, 99.2% were processed within this timeframe.
In more complex cases, for example where the calculation involves multiple tax years, HMRC will automatically send the customer their refund as a payable order within 14 days.
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot last year using data on international travel and UK employment for a random sample of 200,000 Child Benefit records. This was to identify and remove people from the system who had left the UK for more than twelve weeks but continued to claim Child Benefit despite no longer being eligible.
The pilot used Home Office data on international travel as the best starting point for indicating potential unreported absences in the UK. From this data, HMRC undertook checks of PAYE systems to look for continuous UK employment before sending compliance enquiries. No Child Benefit awards were ended without attempting contact with claimants first, to clarify their residency status.
HMRC’s evaluation of the pilot showed that, of the 3,656 customers that were sent enquiry letters, 933 were confirmed to be eligible, with nearly three-quarters found to be non-compliant. In all, the pilot had prevented around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout announced at the Autumn Budget 2024, which is expected to save £350 million over the next five years. Using PAYE and international travel data in this way is considerably more proportionate than requesting all claimants reconfirm their eligibility to HMRC frequently. It is in line with HMRC’s risk-based approach to compliance.
In expanding the process last month, the PAYE check that had been present in the pilot was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. Based on the insight from the pilot, HMRC expect that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases, meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. HMRC will also perform further checks, including against PAYE records for enquiries already opened, before formally terminating awards.
In addition, HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers one month to evidence their continued entitlement first. Together, these changes ensure a proportionate approach for customers while balancing the need to protect against losses to the taxpayer.
HMRC has set up a dedicated team to quickly unsuspend payments, where it is able to confirm with the customer that they remain entitled to Child Benefit. This includes where HMRC had failed to first check for UK employment, which led to enquiries being issued in error. Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received, so that this dedicated team can handle their cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no one is left out of pocket.
HMRC has reinstated payments for 589 claimants, as at 28 October. This includes 134 cases for customers in Northern Ireland where employment checks were retroactively applied. HMRC has also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while their residency status is confirmed.
The global minimum tax project is the result of an agreement reached by members of the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting to reduce profit shifting by large multinationals.
Under the global minimum tax, large MNE groups will be subject to top-up tax if their effective tax rate is lower than 15%. The 15% rate was agreed in 2021, and was the outcome of negotiation and agreement by more than 130 countries. Many of these countries including the UK have now implemented the global minimum tax into their domestic legislation.
The internationally agreed 15% rate is not open for negotiation, but the government believes that it strikes the right balance between curbing harmful tax practices without preventing jurisdictions like the UK from enacting our 25% rate.
The Plastic Packaging Tax was introduced in April 2022 under the previous government and provides a price incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacture of plastic packaging – thereby stimulating the collection and recycling of plastic waste.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, and the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances.
The UK has one of the largest networks of Double Taxation Conventions (DTCs) in the world, covering more than 130 jurisdictions.
The UK also seeks to encourage and maintain an international consensus on cross-border economic activity and to promote international trade and investment. To this end the UK plays an active role in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The UK prioritises maintaining and updating its network of double taxation agreements, especially with major trading partners such as the Republic of Ireland. Whether such updates take place depends on several factors, including the priorities and availability of the relevant treaty partner.
Officials at HM Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs are in regular contact with their Irish counterparts in relation to the DTC and continue to discuss the issues arising from increased cross-border and remote working, amongst other issues.
The UK has one of the largest networks of Double Taxation Conventions (DTCs) in the world, covering more than 130 jurisdictions.
The UK also seeks to encourage and maintain an international consensus on cross-border economic activity and to promote international trade and investment. To this end the UK plays an active role in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The UK prioritises maintaining and updating its network of double taxation agreements, especially with major trading partners such as the Republic of Ireland. Whether such updates take place depends on several factors, including the priorities and availability of the relevant treaty partner.
Officials at HM Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs are in regular contact with their Irish counterparts in relation to the DTC and continue to discuss the issues arising from increased cross-border and remote working, amongst other issues.
The UK has one of the largest networks of Double Taxation Conventions (DTCs) in the world, covering more than 130 jurisdictions.
The UK also seeks to encourage and maintain an international consensus on cross-border economic activity and to promote international trade and investment. To this end the UK plays an active role in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The UK prioritises maintaining and updating its network of double taxation agreements, especially with major trading partners such as the Republic of Ireland. Whether such updates take place depends on several factors, including the priorities and availability of the relevant treaty partner.
Officials at HM Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs are in regular contact with their Irish counterparts in relation to the DTC and continue to discuss the issues arising from increased cross-border and remote working, amongst other issues.
A response to the letter from the Hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton was issued on 6 November.
The Government does not comment on tax speculation outside of fiscal events. The Chancellor will set out the Government’s fiscal plans at the forthcoming Budget.
Estimates of Income Tax relief on pension contributions can be found online in Table 6 of the Private Pension Statistics publication. [1] Estimates of the cost per year of Income Tax and National Insurance contribution relief, broken down by type of pension, can be found in Tables 6.1 and 6.2 of the publication respectively.
Table 6 summary: Estimated cost of pension Income Tax and National Insurance contribution (NIC) relief | |
Estimated cost of pension Income Tax and NICs relief | 2023 to 2024 tax year [provisional] |
Total pension Income Tax relief | 54,200 |
- of which contributed to a defined benefit scheme | 24,100 |
- of which contributed to a defined contribution scheme | 30,000 |
Total pension National Insurance Contributions (NICs) relief | 24,000 |
- of which contributed to a defined benefit scheme | 11,800 |
- of which contributed to a defined contribution scheme | 12,100 |
Total pension Income Tax and NICs relief (gross of tax charges) | 78,200 |
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-and-stakeholder-pensions-statistics
The requested information is in the table below and publicly available in the Office for National Statistics’ Public Sector Finances bulletin for September 2025. [1]
Time period | Current expenditure, of which Interest (£ million) |
Apr 2015 to Mar 2016 | 46,360 |
Apr 2016 to Mar 2017 | 49,922 |
Apr 2017 to Mar 2018 | 56,162 |
Apr 2018 to Mar 2019 | 50,134 |
Apr 2019 to Mar 2020 | 50,266 |
Apr 2020 to Mar 2021 | 41,012 |
Apr 2021 to Mar 2022 | 70,892 |
Apr 2022 to Mar 2023 | 108,063 |
Apr 2023 to Mar 2024 | 83,213 |
Apr 2024 to Mar 2025 | 85,402 |
The government is committed to its non-negotiable fiscal rules, to reduce debt and borrowing. This is the responsible choice – to live within our means, reduce our levels of borrowing in the years ahead and support the Bank of England to get inflation down, so we can deliver on the promises of working people, spend less on servicing debt and reduce the burden on future generations.
[1] Please see Appendix A, table PSA6B part 2, second column (Series NMFX). This series denotes Central Government debt interest payable. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/datasets/publicsectorfinancesappendixatables110
The Government sets fiscal policy on the basis of independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts. The Chancellor commissioned an updated forecast to accompany the Budget on 26 November.
The government’s fiscal strategy, as set out at the Budget in October 2024 and the Spring Statement earlier this year, put the public finances on a sustainable path while prioritising investment to support long-term growth. At the upcoming Budget, we will continue to deliver that strategy, including by meeting the fiscal rules.
This is the responsible choice – to live within our means, reduce the amount we spend on debt interest, protect public services and support the Bank of England to get inflation down.
The Chancellor has regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on a range of topics
The Government is committed to helping deliver global climate finance, including responding to the wider call on all actors to increase climate finance to developing countries to USD 1.3trn per year and the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29 of at least $300bn per year to developing countries by 2035
As part of that effort, we are pressing for faster and more ambitious reforms to the global financial system to deliver much more and higher quality climate and development finance. Alongside this, we are supportive of exploring revenue raising mechanisms for climate action.
The department has spent £0 on social media advertising in the last 5 financial years.
Whilst in Riyadh, the Chancellor welcomed a total package worth £6.4bn in mutual trade and investment. This included both private commercial deals and a Memorandum of Understanding between UK Export Finance (UKEF) and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. HMT will be able to monitor UKEF financial exposure in Saudi Arabia via regular reporting and UKEF’s annual accounts. Commercial agreements are a matter for the relevant companies.
The UK has signed financial services Memoranda of Understanding with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – priority markets for the UK sector given the scale of growth and investment opportunities.
The Chancellor recently visited Saudi Arabia to attend the Future Investment Initiative, where she promoted the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy, driving growth in the financial sector and the economy, advanced the UK’s Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the GCC, advocated for deeper UK-Saudi capital market connectivity, and unveiled a two-way investment package worth £6.4bn
In negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement, the UK aims to secure the Gulf Cooperation Council’s most advanced financial services commitments yet, supporting increased trade between our markets.
The Chancellor’s trip followed a visit from the then-Economic Secretary to the Treasury to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in February to discuss our financial service relationships.
The first UK-Qatar Financial Services Working Group, as agreed under our MoU signed last year, took place on 3 November and focused on collaboration in capital markets, sustainable finance, fintech and pensions.