Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people over the age of 100 have been asked to file Self Assessment tax returns in each of the last three tax years.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In line with the commitment made at Budget 2025, pensioners whose incomes only just exceed the Personal Allowance will not have the administrative burden of paying small amounts of tax in this Parliament. This will mean that policies introduced in this Government taken together reduce the number of pensioners paying Income Tax.

The previous Conservative Government decisions to freeze tax thresholds will however increase the number of pensioners paying tax. Reflecting this and the growing number of pensioners, the numbers requested and tax collected are as follows:

Table 1: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 1

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 2: The number of £100 Initial Late Filing Penalties Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 2

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 3: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 90 for the First Time

Notes to table 3

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 4: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 100

Notes to table 4

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 5: The number of Number of Taxpayers Over the Age of 90, and the Value of Tax Collected via Self Assessment from Taxpayers Over the Age of 90

Notes to table 5

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Taxpayer numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. Tax has been rounded to the nearest million.
4. Tax collected via Self Assessment includes both Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
5. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax has been collected via Self Assessment from people over the age of 90 in each of the last three tax years.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In line with the commitment made at Budget 2025, pensioners whose incomes only just exceed the Personal Allowance will not have the administrative burden of paying small amounts of tax in this Parliament. This will mean that policies introduced in this Government taken together reduce the number of pensioners paying Income Tax.

The previous Conservative Government decisions to freeze tax thresholds will however increase the number of pensioners paying tax. Reflecting this and the growing number of pensioners, the numbers requested and tax collected are as follows:

Table 1: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 1

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 2: The number of £100 Initial Late Filing Penalties Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 2

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 3: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 90 for the First Time

Notes to table 3

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 4: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 100

Notes to table 4

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 5: The number of Number of Taxpayers Over the Age of 90, and the Value of Tax Collected via Self Assessment from Taxpayers Over the Age of 90

Notes to table 5

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Taxpayer numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. Tax has been rounded to the nearest million.
4. Tax collected via Self Assessment includes both Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
5. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people over State Pension Age have been issued with £100 late payment fines for Self Assessment after being required to file Self Assessment for the first time.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In line with the commitment made at Budget 2025, pensioners whose incomes only just exceed the Personal Allowance will not have the administrative burden of paying small amounts of tax in this Parliament. This will mean that policies introduced in this Government taken together reduce the number of pensioners paying Income Tax.

The previous Conservative Government decisions to freeze tax thresholds will however increase the number of pensioners paying tax. Reflecting this and the growing number of pensioners, the numbers requested and tax collected are as follows:

Table 1: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 1

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 2: The number of £100 Initial Late Filing Penalties Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 2

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 3: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 90 for the First Time

Notes to table 3

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 4: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 100

Notes to table 4

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 5: The number of Number of Taxpayers Over the Age of 90, and the Value of Tax Collected via Self Assessment from Taxpayers Over the Age of 90

Notes to table 5

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Taxpayer numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. Tax has been rounded to the nearest million.
4. Tax collected via Self Assessment includes both Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
5. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people over the age of 90 have been asked to file Self Assessment tax returns for the first time for (i) 2023/24, (ii) 2024/25 and (iii) 2025/26.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In line with the commitment made at Budget 2025, pensioners whose incomes only just exceed the Personal Allowance will not have the administrative burden of paying small amounts of tax in this Parliament. This will mean that policies introduced in this Government taken together reduce the number of pensioners paying Income Tax.

The previous Conservative Government decisions to freeze tax thresholds will however increase the number of pensioners paying tax. Reflecting this and the growing number of pensioners, the numbers requested and tax collected are as follows:

Table 1: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 1

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 2: The number of £100 Initial Late Filing Penalties Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 2

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 3: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 90 for the First Time

Notes to table 3

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 4: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 100

Notes to table 4

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 5: The number of Number of Taxpayers Over the Age of 90, and the Value of Tax Collected via Self Assessment from Taxpayers Over the Age of 90

Notes to table 5

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Taxpayer numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. Tax has been rounded to the nearest million.
4. Tax collected via Self Assessment includes both Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
5. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people over State Pension Age have been asked to complete Self Assessment tax returns for the first time.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In line with the commitment made at Budget 2025, pensioners whose incomes only just exceed the Personal Allowance will not have the administrative burden of paying small amounts of tax in this Parliament. This will mean that policies introduced in this Government taken together reduce the number of pensioners paying Income Tax.

The previous Conservative Government decisions to freeze tax thresholds will however increase the number of pensioners paying tax. Reflecting this and the growing number of pensioners, the numbers requested and tax collected are as follows:

Table 1: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 1

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 2: The number of £100 Initial Late Filing Penalties Issued to People Over State Pension Age for the First Time

Notes to table 2

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 3: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 90 for the First Time

Notes to table 3

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 4: The number of Notice to File a Self Assessment tax return (NTFs) Issued to People Over the Age of 100

Notes to table 4

1. Figures are correct as of July 2026. Values may have increased since then.
2. Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Table 5: The number of Number of Taxpayers Over the Age of 90, and the Value of Tax Collected via Self Assessment from Taxpayers Over the Age of 90

Notes to table 5

1. Figures are correct as of October 2026.
2. Taxpayer numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
3. Tax has been rounded to the nearest million.
4. Tax collected via Self Assessment includes both Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
5. The age of individuals has been identified from the date of birth provided on their tax return. Individuals who have not yet submitted their return will not be included in these figures.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of the recommendations in the suicide prevention strategy have been implemented.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The five-year cross-Government Suicide Prevention Strategy sets out over 100 actions for the Government and a range of cross-sector delivery partners, to reduce the number of lives lost to suicide, with a delivery date for each action. Officials have recently conducted a stocktake on progress, which identified the majority of actions as being on track. We also continue to coordinate the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group, which monitors the progress, delivery and continued evolution of the strategy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is her plan to implement the 100 recommendations in the Suicide Prevention strategy.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The five-year cross-Government Suicide Prevention Strategy sets out over 100 actions for the Government and a range of cross-sector delivery partners, to reduce the number of lives lost to suicide, with a delivery date for each action. Officials have recently conducted a stocktake on progress, which identified the majority of actions as being on track. We also continue to coordinate the National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group, which monitors the progress, delivery and continued evolution of the strategy.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional tax liabilities were identified through compliance activity relating to tax relief claims in each of the last three tax years, broken down by relief where such information is held.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

HMRC undertakes internal assessments of compliance risks to inform the deployment of its resources. It does not routinely publish detailed relief-level risk assessments or estimates as doing so could provide insight into HMRC’s compliance approach and undermine its ability to protect the Exchequer.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost and economic impact of the Structures and Buildings Allowance.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The cost of the Structures and Buildings Allowance was £130m in 2023-24, the latest year of outturn data, and is forecasted to reach £310m in 2025-26. This can be found in the latest tax reliefs publication: Tax reliefs - GOV.UK

HMRC publishes estimates of the cost of tax reliefs, but these estimates do not explicitly model wider economic impacts or represent the amount that would necessarily be raised if a relief were withdrawn.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the cost and economic impact of Freeport tax reliefs.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The latest (2023-4) Freeport tax relief costs (excluding Business Rates) can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026. MHCLG published Business Rates reliefs statistics and forecasts here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-2026-to-2027/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-for-2026-to-2027

The Government monitors Freeport performance through established governance and evaluation arrangements.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for which tax reliefs HM Revenue & Customs maintains estimates of potential error and fraud losses, and what those estimates are.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

HMRC undertakes internal assessments of compliance risks to inform the deployment of its resources. It does not routinely publish detailed relief-level risk assessments or estimates as doing so could provide insight into HMRC’s compliance approach and undermine its ability to protect the Exchequer.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which tax reliefs HM Revenue & Customs assess as presenting the highest risk of error and fraud.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

HMRC undertakes internal assessments of compliance risks to inform the deployment of its resources. It does not routinely publish detailed relief-level risk assessments or estimates as doing so could provide insight into HMRC’s compliance approach and undermine its ability to protect the Exchequer.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Revenue and Customs has designated core in-office collaboration days for staff; and if he will publish details of those arrangements.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

HMRC business groups determine office attendance arrangements according to their operational requirements.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the operating and monitoring cost of each tax relief with an annual Exchequer impact exceeding £1 billion.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

HMRC estimated the overall cost of collection as 0.51 pence for every pound generated in tax revenue in 2025/26.

Estimates of the cost of operating and monitoring individual reliefs are not available.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many tax reliefs with an annual Exchequer impact of more than £100 million are assigned a Senior Responsible Owner.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

HMRC and HM Treasury do not operate a model that assigns a Senior Responsible Officer to individual reliefs.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for which tax reliefs he estimates that more than 50 per cent of the total impact accrues to fewer than 10 percent of claimants.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

It is not possible to provide this information for all tax reliefs. Information on how the impact of some of the largest tax reliefs are distributed among claimants is set out in HMRC's annual Tax Relief Statistics publication, last released on 22 January 2026, and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which day of the working week had the lowest average office attendance rate among staff in (a) HM Treasury and (b) HM Revenue and Customs, for each of the past three years.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)

Line managers are responsible for supporting and monitoring compliance with HM Treasury’s office attendance expectations. Attendance data is not collated for individual offices as anonymised, aggregated building access data is used to understand overall occupancy levels and does not identify individual members of staff. Employees are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in their contractual workplace, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed through workplace adjustments.

HM Treasury is currently reviewing its attendance monitoring regime in order to improve its accuracy.

Under HM Revenue and Customs’ monitoring regime they are only able to provide the latest validated individual attendance rate data which cover the last two years, Sept 2024 – August 26, which shows that fewer staff worked in the office on Fridays.

September 24 - August 25: 37.4% colleagues worked from their office on a Friday.

September 25 - August 26: 38.7% colleagues worked from their office on a Friday

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average office attendance rate was for staff in (a) HM Treasury and (b) HM Revenue and Customs for each of the past three calendar years.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)

HM Treasury's office attendance policy applies across all of its office locations. Employees are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in their contractual workplace, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed through workplace adjustments.

Line managers are responsible for supporting and monitoring compliance with the department's office attendance expectations. Attendance data is not collated for individual offices as anonymised, aggregated building access data is used to understand overall occupancy levels and does not identify individual members of staff. HMT is currently reviewing its attendance monitoring regime in order to improve its accuracy.

Under HM Revenue and Customs’ attendance monitoring regime, they are only able to provide the latest validated individual attendance rate data which cover the last two years, Sept 2024 – August 26.

September 24 - August 25: 78.5% of colleagues met their office attendance expectation.

September 25 - August 26: 85.6% of colleagues met their office attendance expectation.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of staff in (a) HM Treasury and (b) HM Revenue and Customs met the Civil Service expectation of spending at least 60 per cent of their working time in a Government building or on official business in the past three calendar years.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)

HM Treasury's office attendance policy applies across all of its office locations. Employees are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in their contractual workplace, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed through workplace adjustments

Line managers are responsible for supporting and monitoring compliance with the department's office attendance expectations. Attendance data is not collated for individual offices as anonymised, aggregated building access data is used to understand overall occupancy levels and does not identify individual members of staff. HMT is currently reviewing its attendance monitoring regime in order to improve its accuracy.

Under HM Revenue and Customs’ attendance monitoring regime, they are only able to provide the latest validated individual attendance rate data which cover the last two years, Sept 2024 – August 26.

September 24 - August 25: 78.5% of colleagues met their office attendance expectation

September 25 - August 26: 85.6% of colleagues met their office attendance expectation.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average office attendance rate on Fridays was for staff in (a) HM Treasury and (b) HM Revenue and Customs for each of the past three calendar years.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)

HM Treasury's office attendance policy applies across all of its office locations. Employees are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in their contractual workplace, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed through workplace adjustments.

Line managers are responsible for supporting and monitoring compliance with the department's office attendance expectations. Attendance data is not collated for individual offices as anonymised, aggregated building access data is used to understand overall occupancy levels and does not identify individual members of staff. HMT is currently reviewing its attendance monitoring regime in order to improve its accuracy.

Under HM Revenue and Customs’ monitoring regime they are only able to provide the latest validated individual attendance rate data which cover the last two years, Sept 2024 – August 26.

September 24 - August 25: 37.4% colleagues worked from their office on a Friday

September 25 - August 26: 38.7% colleagues worked from their office on a Friday

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