Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 5.67, page 75 of the Spring Budget 2024, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime on the number of businesses that will (a) continue as short-term holiday lets, (b) become longer term rental properties and (c) sell the property in question.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has announced that it will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) tax regime from April 2025.
The Government will publish draft legislation, explanatory notes, and a tax information and impacts note in due course.
As with all aspects of tax policy, the Government keeps the taxation of property landlords under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to sustain the momentum of the economic recovery following indications that GDP increased in January and February.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
To sustain economic growth momentum, the government is continuing to pursue an ambitious policy agenda to increase growth and productivity across the economy. The OBR expects that policies announced at the previous three fiscal events will increase the size of the economy by 0.7% by 2028-29.
In addition to making full expensing permanent, a tax cut to companies of over £10 billion a year, the government has announced measures to boost labour supply, which the OBR predicts will increase the number of hours worked by the equivalent of over 300,000 full-time workers by the end of the forecast period.
Asked by: Lord Allen of Kensington (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the review of Bank of England forecasting led by Ben Bernanke.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Bank of England has operational independence from the government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for monetary policy and financial stability. The government’s commitment to this independence remains absolute.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to support self-employed individuals who may struggle to file their tax returns on time due to economic difficulties; and whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of reforming the penalty system.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC is committed to helping all taxpayers pay their taxes and urges anyone having difficulty to make contact as soon as possible. Time to Pay arrangements are available for taxpayers who cannot afford to make full payment of their tax when it is due. Also, a Budget Payment Plan service allows Self Assessment taxpayers to make advance payments. HMRC has recently published YouTube videos on GOV.UK to help the self-employed, including one about ‘How to budget for your Self-Assessment tax bill if you’re self-employed’.
In Spring 2021 the government announced a new points-based penalty regime for regular tax return submission obligations, to replace existing penalties for VAT and Self Assessment. The new approach is fairer, with financial penalties arising only when the failure is consistent. For Self Assessment taxpayers, reformed penalties will begin when they join the Making Tax Digital (MTD) service for Self Assessment from April 2026 onwards.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of freezing the level of the tax-free Personal Allowance on the economy; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing this level.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to keeping taxes low to support people to keep more of what they earn. The Personal Allowance has nearly doubled since 2010 and is over 20% higher in real terms.
As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the Personal Allowance under review and any decisions on future changes will be made by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of exempting state pension from tax; and if he will make an assessment of whether state pension should be classified as income.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Personal Allowance is currently set at a level high enough to ensure that those pensioners whose sole income is the full rate of the new State Pension or basic State Pension do not pay any income tax.
The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review and any decision on future changes will be made by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2024 to Question 21426 on Childcare: Taxation, if he will make it his policy to increase the childcare tax free cap in line with inflation.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The £2,000 Tax-Free Childcare top-up, which can be claimed per year and per child, was set at this level because the Government believes it strikes the right balance between helping parents with their childcare costs, and managing the public finances in a responsible way.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to hold discussions with representatives of the main banks on the potential merits of agreeing a new banking framework with the Post Office for the period after 2025.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is supportive of industry initiatives that assist access to in-person banking. These include the Post Office Banking Framework, which allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.
Negotiations between the banking industry and the Post Office regarding any future Banking Framework are commercial discussions and the Government has no role.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the Government's BBC funding model review.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government has launched a review of the BBC’s funding model, to ensure it is fair to licence fee payers, sustainable for the long term, and supports the BBC’s vital role in growing our thriving creative industries.
This is an important cross-Government programme of work, HMT and DCMS are in regular engagement, and will continue to do so over the course of the review.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of his Department’s (a) advertising and (b) marketing expenditure was on (i) local newspapers in print and online, (ii) national newspapers in print and online, (iii) social media, (iv) search engines, (v) broadcast and on-demand television and (vi) other channels in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMT’s expenditure on these related areas are all published in the public domain and can be found across the below links
a) https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gpc-spend
b) https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend
c) https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-annual-report