Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of lowering VAT on restaurant customers.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK.
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.
Where restaurants incur VAT in producing the food they sell, this can be claimed back in the normal way, provided that they are registered for VAT. Businesses with a turnover below the £90,000 per year threshold may choose not to register for VAT, in which case they do not charge VAT on their sales and cannot reclaim it on their input costs.
HMRC estimate that the cost of a 5 per cent reduced rate for accommodation, hospitality and tourist attractions would be around £13 billion this financial year. If the scope were also to include alcoholic beverages, the cost would be approximately £3 billion greater.
More broadly, as announced at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure they benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that HM Revenue and Customs has sufficient capacity to support taxpayers during the implementation of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax and Self Assessment.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC has undertaken detailed assessments of the potential impact of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax on compliance costs and administrative requirements across different taxpayer groups, including seasonal workers, self-employed individuals, small businesses, and landlords. The latest published assessment is available at:
HMRC has worked to ensure that MTD for Income Tax works well for all kinds of businesses. In-year, quarterly updates are not like full tax returns.
They are simple, unadjusted summaries of income and expenditure, acting as a snapshot of quarterly trading activity. They will be populated automatically through software and can be submitted easily. This process has been designed to be simple for users and quick to complete.
Quarterly updates reduce the risk of error by moving record-keeping closer to real time. They also make preparing the tax return easier, as much information is already captured and categorised. Updates can help inform estimates of tax liability and prompts to help taxpayers get their tax right.
The Government has taken steps to minimise costs to businesses resulting from MTD, including work with the software industry to ensure free software is available for those with simple affairs.
Following MTD’s introduction in April 2026, HMRC will support MTD users with fully-trained advisers in sufficient numbers to manage anticipated demand.
In advance of MTD’s rollout, nearly 5,000 volunteers have signed up to test the service. HMRC’s dedicated teams are working to ensure the new systems and processes operate as planned and the right guidance and training is in place for both advisors and users.
As a major government programme, HMRC routinely evaluates MTD’s value for money in line with mandatory Government Major Project Portfolio (GMPP) requirements, which include demonstrating affordability, cost-effectiveness, and delivery of benefits throughout its lifecycle to ensure efficient use of public funds. The latest assessment is at:
Making Tax Digital Programme Accounting Officer Assessment (updated) - GOV.UK
Asked by: Matt Bishop (Labour - Forest of Dean)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reducing the lower threshold of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on (a) business investment decisions in the food and drink manufacturing sector, (b) the growth of that sector and (c) (i) investment and (ii) growth by food and drink manufacturing companies in the South West.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The proposed changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy were subject to the ‘Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy’ consultation, which was open from 28 April to 21 July 2025. An assessment of economic and other impacts is included as part of this consultation document. This is available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy.
The Government is considering the consultation responses, including those providing evidence of the potential impacts on growth and investment, prior to making a decision at Budget. If the Government decides to make changes to the levy, it will publish an updated assessment of the confirmed policy’s impacts.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of an increase in fuel duty on (a) GDP and (b) employment levels in the (i) road haulage and (ii) logistics sectors.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 considers the impact of fuel duty on the economy, including households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
Asked by: Linsey Farnsworth (Labour - Amber Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of aligning the duty rates applied to textile footwear with other textile-based safety equipment.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK’s Tariff schedule, known as the UK Global Tariff (UKGT), adheres to global classification standards. We continue to monitor the UKGT to ensure our Most Favoured Nation tariff schedule functions as effectively as possible, supports domestic priorities, and provides a stable operating environment for businesses.
Businesses are welcome to request partial or full liberalisation of the import duty applied to the products under this commodity code, including textile footwear and textile-based safety equipment, either through the online feedback form or the next business suspensions window.
There will be further opportunities to apply for tariff suspensions in due course. Further information, including dates of the application window, guidance, and methods to apply, will be announced on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of not implementing the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief for farmers in the Autumn Budget 2025.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, fixing the public finances, and funding public services. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.
The Government will invest more than £2.7 billion a year in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026-27 until 2028-29. This includes the largest financial investment into nature-friendly farming ever.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of increases in employers' National Insurance contributions on the natural stone industry.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) announced at Autumn Budget 2024. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.
Asked by: Warinder Juss (Labour - Wolverhampton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including the music industry in the creative industries tax reliefs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government supports the creative industries, including orchestras, through funding and through the tax system. Specifically in respect of orchestras, Orchestra Tax Relief provides tax relief on production costs and provided £33 million of support in 2022-23.
When considering changes to tax reliefs, the Government takes into account a wide range of factors including costs, complexity, and fairness.
Announcements on tax are made at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2025 to Question 85917 on Lobbying: Official Hospitality, if she will list (a) the receptions her Department has held in the offices of consultant lobbying firms since 4 July 2024 and (b) the rationale in each case.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the department have not held any receptions in the offices of consultant lobbying firms since 4 July 2024.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 26828 on Cabinet Office: Revenue and Customs, what the legal basis is to permit the sharing of confidential information on ministers’ tax affairs between (a) Cabinet Office, (b) the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards and (c) HM Revenue and Customs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data sharing between HMRC and other departments is considered on a case-by-case basis, to comply with HMRC’s obligations under its duty of confidentiality and other information law, including the UK GDPR.
HMRC supports other government departments in their awards and appointments processes by providing advice on potential tax risks, by reference to a low, medium or high rating. HMRC discloses this information as it supports its functions, including the collection and management of tax.
Details of Memoranda of Understanding (“MOU”) HMRC has with other government departments for these purposes can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-awards-and-appointments. The published MOUs explain the legal basis for disclosure.
The MOUs are clear that data must not be shared other than for the purpose set out in the MOU and that data may only be shared with individuals/teams explicitly named in the MOU.
There is no specific data sharing agreement between HMRC and the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.