Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the loss of revenue resulting from ceasing to tax business broadband upgrades for homeowners as a benefit in kind.

The Government’s ambition is to connect at least 85 per cent of UK premises to gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, and for nationwide connectivity (at least 99 per cent) to be realised by 2030. Project Gigabit is the government’s £5 billion programme that will ensure the whole of the UK benefits from gigabit connectivity by providing subsidy to deliver gigabit-capable connectivity to uncommercial premises, which are typically in rural or remote locations. Over 75 per cent of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, a huge leap forward from July 2019, when coverage was just 8 per cent.

Regarding the tax treatment of home broadband, under long-standing rules, payments from employers reimbursing employees for reasonable additional costs they incur while having to work from home are exempt from taxation. This includes the cost of providing broadband to an employee where a connection was not already available, the employee requires broadband to work from home, and the broadband is used mainly for business purposes.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold information on the revenue received from taxes on businesses that provide their employees with business broadband for their residential properties.