Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Valuation Office Agency uses Value Significant Codes for council tax valuations, and whether it is planning to collect new Codes, for (a) England or (b) Wales.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency uses Value Significant Codes for council tax valuations to indicate specific features that are likely to affect the value of a property either positively or negatively.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent exemptions or carve-outs granted to large United States multinational enterprises under the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting on (a) the effectiveness of the global minimum tax, (b) UK tax revenues, and (c) the principle of equal treatment between multinational enterprises operating in the UK.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK, with more than 140 members of the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework have reached agreement on a package of reforms to the Pillar 2 Global Minimum Tax system to address how it should interact with US minimum tax rules.
As set out in my written statement to the House on 7th January, these changes bring stability and clarity for business, as well as protection from retaliatory measures. At the same time, the largest multinationals will continue to pay their fair share of tax through comprehensive systems of global minimum taxation.
This agreement underlines the continued commitment of the UK and others to tackle aggressive tax planning by multinational enterprises and preserve the level playing field.
All multinationals are subject to the 25% Corporation Tax rate on profits they make in the UK, and they remain subject to the UK’s domestic minimum tax rate of 15%.
The changes will be fully costed with the OBR in in the usual way as the UK brings forward legislation in the next Finance Bill.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure coherence between the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and other Government frameworks, including nutrient profiling, dietary guidance and restrictions on foods high in fat, sugar and salt.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
When considering the reforms to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) announced at Budget 2025, HM Treasury worked closely with the Department for Health and Social Care throughout the process, including to consider whether the SDIL minimum sugar content threshold could, and should, align with the nutrient profiling model (NPM). However, it would be complex to align the SDIL, which applies only to drinks and is based on sugar content alone, with the NPM, which determines what are ‘less healthy’ foods and drinks by balancing a range of beneficial and less beneficial nutrients.
The government judges that the new SDIL threshold of 4.5g total sugar per 100ml strikes a fair balance between delivering on the SDIL’s health objectives and supporting producers with the process of reformulation.
Given the government recognises that these reforms ask soft drink producers to adapt and invest in further reformulation, and that certainty is required to support this process, the Chancellor has committed to not make any further changes to the design of the SDIL this Parliament.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Valuation Office Agency plans to publish an ad-hoc release for (a) Non-domestic rating: properties over £500,000 and (b) Non-domestic rating: summary of properties over £500,000, based on the 2026 Rating List.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This information was included in the Change in rateable value of rating lists, 2026 Revaluation publication:
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of the wealthy tax gap HMRC attributes to (a) Capital Gains Tax and (b) Inheritance Tax for each financial year from 2017-18 to 2024-25.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Wealthy tax gap estimates are published in Measuring the Tax Gap 2025 for 2005-06 to 2023-24. There are no estimates for 2024-25 at this time, these will be published in future tax gap publications.
We use Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) data in our estimate of the Self-Assessment (SA) wealthy tax gap. It is not possible to separately estimate the CGT share within this tax gap. We are therefore unable to provide the details for CGT.
The overall wealthy tax gap, detailed in Chapter 1 Figure 1.4 of MTG25 and Table 1.4 of the online tables, breaks down as follows:
(£ billion) | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Self-Assessment | 1.43 | 1.35 | 1.34 | 1.23 | 1.67 | 1.78 | 1.95 |
Inheritance Tax | 0.20 | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.10 | 0.20 | 0.12 | 0.15 |
Stamp Duties | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.04 |
Net Gap | 1.65 | 1.59 | 1.58 | 1.37 | 1.92 | 1.95 | 2.13 |
Or as a percentage share of the overall wealthy tax gap:
(£ billion) | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Self-Assessment | 86.7% | 85.0% | 84.7% | 90.0% | 87.2% | 91.6% | 91.3% |
Inheritance Tax | 11.9% | 12.1% | 12.1% | 7.1% | 10.5% | 6.0% | 6.9% |
Stamp Duties | 1.4% | 2.9% | 3.2% | 2.9% | 2.3% | 2.4% | 1.7% |
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to the retail business rates multiplier on the non-domestic rating valuation of different retail property types.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
We are paying for this through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. This includes many large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants. The high value multiplier is 33% more than the multiplier for small RHL properties.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria is used by the Valuation Office Agency to determine whether a licensed premises is assigned a special category code of a (a) pub or (b) bar.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The criteria for determining special category codes for pubs and bars is published in the Valuation of Public Houses Approved Guide 2023. Guide_to_Public_Houses.pdf
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many additional HMRC debt management staff she plans to recruit in each of the next five years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government announced investment at the Budget in October 2024 and the Spring Statement in March 2025 to enable HMRC to recruit and retain 2,400 debt management officers in addition to growing by 5,500 compliance officers by 2029-30, with further funding for the former announced at the Budget in November 2025.
This funding means that HMRC will retain 1,200 current Debt Management staff, who would have moved onto other roles, to focus on debt collection activity until the end of 2029-30 and will grow its workforce by 1,200 more people over this period. The majority of new recruits are funded from 2026-27, and all additional staff will be in position by 2028-29.
HMRC is already well underway in recruiting 5,500 additional compliance officers who will join by the end of the decade. HMRC is welcoming around 2,000 total compliance officers each financial year, which includes baseline recruitment, an approximate 1,000 additional compliance officers funded by Government investment, and also accounts for anticipated attrition.
Since November 2024, over 1,500 additional compliance officers have joined HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group (CCG).
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HMRC plans to take to increase the recruitment of compliance and debt management staff.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government announced investment at the Budget in October 2024 and the Spring Statement in March 2025 to enable HMRC to recruit and retain 2,400 debt management officers in addition to growing by 5,500 compliance officers by 2029-30, with further funding for the former announced at the Budget in November 2025.
This funding means that HMRC will retain 1,200 current Debt Management staff, who would have moved onto other roles, to focus on debt collection activity until the end of 2029-30 and will grow its workforce by 1,200 more people over this period. The majority of new recruits are funded from 2026-27, and all additional staff will be in position by 2028-29.
HMRC is already well underway in recruiting 5,500 additional compliance officers who will join by the end of the decade. HMRC is welcoming around 2,000 total compliance officers each financial year, which includes baseline recruitment, an approximate 1,000 additional compliance officers funded by Government investment, and also accounts for anticipated attrition.
Since November 2024, over 1,500 additional compliance officers have joined HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group (CCG).
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with her G7 counterparts on (a) the potential impact of the oil price cap on the level of the Russian Federation's revenues to date and (b) the potential merits of reducing the level of the oil price cap; and what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the oil price cap on the Russian Federation's fiscal revenues in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The implementation of the oil price cap has achieved its joint aims of 1) reducing Russian oil revenues by capping the price at which Russian oil can be transported using G7 maritime services (such as insurance and brokering for example), while also, 2) maintaining global oil flows and limiting market in instability.
This is why the UK, alongside the EU announced our intention to lower the crude oil price cap in July 2025 with Canada, Japan and New Zealand following shortly afterwards.
At 23:01 (GMT) Saturday 31 January 2026 the crude Oil Price Cap will be lowered from $47.60 to $44.10 per barrel. The UK has chosen to mirror the EU's new price to maintain regulatory alignment in targeting Russian revenues and is part of the UK’s ongoing commitment to supporting Ukraine. Remaining aligned with the EU on this matter ensures clarity and ease for UK businesses operating in Europe.
Following the introduction of the oil price cap on crude oil in December 2022, and refined oil products in February 2023, Russian oil export revenues have been significantly reduced. Compared to 2022, the price cap contributed to an approximately 18% fall in Russian oil export revenues in 2023 and 2024, and a 30% decline in 2025. This success, coupled with significantly lower Urals prices, has weakened Putin’s ability to sustain his illegal war in Ukraine.