Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Valuation Office Agency's news story entitled Business rates revaluation 2026, updated on 22 January 2026, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to business rates on the financial viability of small businesses in South Basildon and East Thurrock 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.
To support with bill increases, the Government has introduced a generous support package worth £4.3 billion over the next 3 years, including support to help ratepayers to transition to their new bill. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
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.
From April, every pub and live music venue will 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.
The Government is also supporting small businesses to grow. At Budget, the Government announced the extension of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) so that businesses opening second premises can retain their SBRR for three years, tripling the current allowance.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent rateable value increases on small accommodation providers, including the impact on business viability and local tourism-dependent economies.
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.
To support those who are seeing large increases, Government has already acted to limit increases in bills, announcing a support package worth £4.3 billion package at the Budget.
The Government remains committed to ensuring the UK remains a world-class, competitive and sustainable destination. We aim to attract 50 million international visitors annually by 2030, and the forthcoming Growth Plan will set out how we intend to support jobs, investment, and regional prosperity.
The VOA published the Draft non-domestic rating list on 26 November 2025, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-change-in-rateable-value-of-rating-lists-england-and-wales-2026-revaluation-draft-list
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has assessed the potential impact of the proposed changes to business rates on small independent bookshops.
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.
To respond to those who are seeing large increases, Government has already acted to limit increases in bills, announcing a support package worth £4.3 billion package at the Budget.
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.
The Government published information on the effects of the changes to business rates made at Budget 2025 here: Effects of the business rates retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers and high-value multiplier - GOV.UK
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: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total compliance yield generated by HMRC’s Wealthy Team was in each financial year between 2017-18 and 2024-25.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The table below shows the compliance yield attributed to the wealthy customer group, which includes yield generated by HMRCs Wealthy Team. HMRC does not hold the figures for 2017-18. We have provided details from the earliest period available in the table below:-
Annual Report figures | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
Compliance Yield (£m) | 1,800 | 2,200 | 3,000 | 2,500 | 4,000 | 5,200 | 3,700 |
Compliance yield for the wealthy population can fluctuate year on year because it can be impacted by the nature of the work and risks being settled as well as the settlement of a small number of complex, high value cases and litigation outcomes. Complex cases can take time to work through which can lead to yearly fluctuations.
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: 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: Llinos Medi (Plaid Cymru - Ynys Môn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing draught duty relief.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government is proud to have been able to significantly expand the generosity of Draught Relief this parliament, in recognition of the economic and cultural importance of pubs, and the wider “on trade”.
In February 2025, the Chancellor delivered a duty cut on qualifying draught products – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This took a penny of duty off a typical strength pint and reduced overall duty receipts by £85m. Draught beer and cider now pay 13.9% less in tax than their packaged equivalents.
The Government keeps duty rates under review, and the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events. The Government welcomes representations from the on trade sector on the effectiveness of Draught Relief in advance of the Budget.