Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had any discussions with relevant stakeholders on lowering the VAT rate on hot takeaway foods.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ministers and officials receive representations on a variety of VAT issues. The Government engages regularly with a wide range of stakeholders, including businesses and representative bodies, to inform the policy development process.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the standard rate of 20 per cent applies to most goods and services. VAT is forecast to raise around £180 billion in 2025-26.
Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations. The Government keeps all taxes under review, and decisions on VAT rates are taken by the Chancellor at fiscal events.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential cumulative impact of business rates, minimum wage increases, VAT, energy costs and alcohol duty on the viability of small and independently owned pubs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the important contribution that small and independently owned pubs make to local communities, the high street and the wider economy. The potential impacts of changes on this sector are carefully considered as part of policy development.
Where changes are made, relevant impact notes and assessments are published at fiscal events and otherwise as necessary, in line with the Government’s usual practice. The Treasury also engages regularly with the pub and wider hospitality sector to understand the challenges they face.
The Government continues to provide targeted support to the pub sector through the tax system and other policies, and keeps all areas of the tax system under review, with future decisions taken at fiscal events under the normal process.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data HMRC holds on (a) stamp duty revenues for residential dwellings which are primary homes raised and (b) the number of transactions, by local authority area in the last financial year for which figures are available.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not collect data via the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) return on whether a residential property will serve as a primary residence. However, the Higher Rates for Additional Dwellings (HRAD) apply when an individual acquires a residential property while already owning another piece of residential property anywhere in the world.
SDLT paid on homes which did not pay HRAD on a local authority basis can be calculated using Table 4a and Table 4c of the Annual Stamp Tax statistics publication available here: Annual Stamp Tax Statistics - GOV.UK
SDLT paid on homes which did not pay HRAD is calculated by subtracting HRAD receipts from Residential receipts and the number of transactions is calculated by subtracting HRAD transaction counts from Residential property counts. Please note that the statistics publication covers the temporary thresholds period ending 1 April 2025 so the HRAD share may be higher than usual.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of business rates revaluation on village pubs and hospitality venues in rural areas.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic.
In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills.
The Government is also 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.
From April, every pub will also get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.
Three-quarters of pubs will see bills flat or falling in April. The new relief is worth £1,650 for the average pub next year. As a sector pubs will pay 8% less in business rates in 2029 than they do right now.
Rural Rate Relief also continues to be available for key amenities and community assets in rural areas. It provides 100% rate relief for properties that are based in eligible rural areas with populations below 3,000.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Treasury Select Committee, Work of HM Revenue and Customs - Oral evidence, HC 416, 13 January 2026, Question 442, how many of the additional headcount of 1,000 VOA staff are assigned to work on the council tax surcharge.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is developing its resourcing and recruitment plans for the High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) work.
It is not yet possible to confirm how many VOA staff will be allocated to HVCTS activity, out of the additional 1000 headcount for HMRC as a whole.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of business rates on soft play centres in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic.
In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills.
As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
The Government is also introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties, including soft play centres. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of converting short-term tenancies into periodic tenancies on the number of tenancies required to make anniversary calculations for Stamp Duty Land Tax.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Tenant wellbeing is central to the government’s recent Renters’ Rights Act, which will transform the experience of private renting, and give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer. We are aware that the Act, which abolishes fixed-term tenancies, may bring these tenancies into the SDLT regime. We will act to ensure that no one will be brought into paying SDLT as a result of the Renters’ Rights Act. We will update the House with more detail shortly.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the urgent question on the resignation of the chair of the OBR at column 991, 3 December 2025, whether special advisers have been required to provide access to the leak inquiry to communications on personal and government issued mobile devices and computers.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
On 9 February, the Government published its Review of Budget information security. This includes the outcomes and recommendations of the Cabinet Office’s leak inquiry. All individuals and organisations in government who had access to the relevant information were in scope, including special advisers.
Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of 3 December 2025 on OBR: Resignation of Chair, Official Report, column 991, if she will provide an update on the progress of the leak inquiry.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
On 9 February, the Government published its Review of Budget information security. This includes the outcomes and recommendations of the Cabinet Office’s leak inquiry. The recommendations will be implemented in full.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 104669 on Business Rates, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the increases in Rateable Values for (a) hotels and (b) pubs from the 2026 revaluation on the liability of those businesses for business rates from the BID levies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Business Improvement District (BID) levies are set locally through ballot approved proposals and are not automatically affected by revaluations or new multipliers. Therefore, any adjustment is a matter for the individual BID under its governing arrangements.
The Government recognises the important role that BIDs play in improving the local trading environment in high streets and town centres. Through the Pride in Place strategy, the Government has committed to strengthening BIDs by modernising existing arrangements, raising standards, and granting new powers for the establishment of property owner BIDs throughout England.