Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what case studies she has used to calculate the financial impact of proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The tax base consists of all estates subject to Inheritance Tax that are projected to claim Agricultural Property Relief or Business Property Relief across the scorecard period. The tax base is estimated using HMRC administrative data, and is grown over the forecast in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast for IHT receipts.
More information is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6721d2c54da1c0d41942a8d2/Policy_Costing_Document_-_Autumn_Budget_2024.pdf
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to (a) agricultural and (b) business property relief in the Autumn Budget on family-owned farms in (a) Kent and (b) Faversham and Mid Kent constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the Honourable Member to the PQ referenced 12250 published on 11th November 2024 at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-11-01/12250.
The Chancellor also recently wrote to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee on this issue, and her letter may be of interest: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to agricultural property relief in the Autumn Budget 2024 on the sustainability of domestic food production.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.
It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected in 2026-27 by the changes to APR and BPR, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
The UK has robust domestic production, and these reforms will only affect a small number of estates. The small number of landowners affected will not necessarily need to sell the land and, if they choose to, then it does not necessarily mean the land would stop being used for food production. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced the largest ever investment in sustainable food production in England.
In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance she plans to issue to small business farmers who wish to keep an inherited family farm.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.
It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected in 2026-27 by the changes to APR and BPR, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
The UK has robust domestic production, and these reforms will only affect a small number of estates. The small number of landowners affected will not necessarily need to sell the land and, if they choose to, then it does not necessarily mean the land would stop being used for food production. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced the largest ever investment in sustainable food production in England.
In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to help ensure the generational continuity of agricultural businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committing the largest ever proportion of the £5 billion farming budget across this year and next to sustainable food production in our history.
It is expected that up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief (APR), or APR and business property relief (BPR) together, will be affected in 2026-27 by the changes to APR and BPR. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming APR (or those claiming APR and BPR together) are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
The Government published information about the reforms to APR and BPR at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many farms were subject to inheritance tax in Faversham and Mid Kent constituency in the (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22 financial year.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Inheritance Tax is a tax on the estate (the property, money and possessions) of someone who’s died. Farmland and farming assets are not the unit of taxation, although some taxpaying estates may contain farmland and farming assets.
Information about how many estates overall in the Faversham and Mid Kent constituency were estimated to be subject to Inheritance Tax in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 are published online in HMRC’s Inheritance Tax liabilities statistics, in Table 12.9: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on jobs.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s October 2024 forecast, which takes into account impacts from policy measures announced in the Budget, expects the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions announced the Autumn Budget 2024 on jobs.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook expects that the Employer National Insurance Contributions package will lead to a reduction in the participation rate by 0.1 per cent from 2025-26 onwards. Overall, once the impact of all the Budget measures are taken into consideration, the OBR expect the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will increase fuel duty rates.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Revenue from motoring taxes and associated VAT ensures that the Government can continue to fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people and families across the UK expect.
Following the spending audit, the Chancellor has been clear that difficult decisions lie ahead on spending, welfare and tax to fix the foundations of our economy and address the £22 billion hole the government has inherited. Decisions on how to do that will be taken at the Budget in the round; the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events.
The Government continuously reviews the tax system to ensure that it raises revenue in a way that supports growth. This involves considering representations from a range of stakeholders on various taxes and tax issues, including motoring taxes.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has undertaken literature reviews on the subject of vehicle excise duty.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on car ownership. The tax system encourages the uptake of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to help meet the UK’s legally binding climate change targets. Cars first registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 pay VED annually according to CO2 emissions. From 1 April 2017, a reformed VED system was introduced for new cars. Under the reformed VED system, zero emission models currently pay nothing on first registration, whilst the most polluting pay over £2,600. In subsequent years, most cars move to a standard rate, currently set at an annual rate of £190. However from April 2025, electric cars will begin to pay VED in the same way as petrol and diesel vehicles, whilst an incentive is maintained for electric cars at the point of purchase.
Revenue from motoring taxes helps ensure we can continue to fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people and families across the UK expect. The Government annually reviews the rates and thresholds of taxes and reliefs to ensure that they are appropriate and reflect the current state of the economy. As with all taxes, the Government welcomes representations from the public on how the tax system can be improved.
Following the spending audit, the Chancellor has been clear that difficult decisions lie ahead on spending, welfare and tax to fix the foundations of our economy and address the £22 billion hole the government has inherited. Decisions on how to do that will be taken at the Budget in the round.