Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the cost of their advertising budget in the current financial year; how much of that budget is for public information; and what, in particular, is the cost of promoting the married couples’ tax allowance.

The total advertising spend for April to December 2016 was £77.3m excluding VAT. This does not include agency fees and production costs. The budget for January to end March 2017 is under discussion.

HMRC is currently running an advertising campaign to encourage take-up of Married Couple’s Tax Allowance. The total projected media spend for 2016-17, excluding production costs and fees, is £688,577 excluding VAT.

The Government do not categorise activity by ‘public information’ and ‘non-public information’.