Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consideration her Department has given to ending the crown exemption for the Duchy of Lancaster and Duchy of Cornwall.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The income from the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall forms part of the King’s and Prince of Wales’s private income. The tax treatment of that income is as set out in the in the Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation, which can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/memorandum-of-understanding-on-royal-taxation-2023
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has met with representatives of the automotive industry, including manufacturers and dealership groups, to discuss the potential consequences of treating Employee Car Ownership Scheme vehicles as full company-car benefits for tax purposes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2025, the government announced that, to allow more time for the sector to prepare for and adapt to the proposed changes in treatment to Employee Car Ownership Schemes (ECOS), its implementation will be delayed to 6 April 2030, with transitional arrangements until April 2032.
The government maintains regular engagement with vehicle manufacturers and the wider automotive industry. The changes announced at Budget 2025 have been welcomed by the sector.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to align the definition of brownfield land for the purposes of the Building Safety Levy to the definition in the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Works on previously developed sites will be charged at the 50% discount rate for the Building Safety Levy. This has been put in place to account for the higher costs of developing a previously developed/ brownfield site.
As set out in our response to the technical consultation, we have implemented a definition of “Previously Developed Sites” in the Building Safety Levy regulations, which draws on the definition of “Previously Developed Land” set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Appropriate amendments have been made to reflect that the NPPF definition is primarily designed to inform planning policy whereas the Building Safety Levy definition is used in regulations to apply a tax discount.
We are considering whether the approach in regulations could be more closely aligned with the NPPF, while maintaining the level of precision required for a taxation system.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of unpaid HMRC liabilities following corporate insolvency on the economy.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
No specific analytical assessment has been made of the potential impact of unpaid HMRC liabilities following corporate insolvency on the economy.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners who will pay tax on their (a) basic state pension (b) second state pension and (c) new state pension from April 2026.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Those whose sole income is the basic and full new State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax in 2026/27.
The Chancellor has said that those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax over this Parliament. At the Budget, the Government announced that it will achieve this by easing the administrative burden for pensioners so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027/28. The Government will set out more details in due course.
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 implement and strengthen oversight of cryptoasset tax compliance, including measures to improve reporting, enforcement and consumer protection in the UK crypto market.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC uses a range of approaches to manage tax compliance, helping taxpayers get their tax right whilst tackling those who avoid or evade paying the taxes that are due.
Current and planned tax compliance measures are detailed below:
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will adopt a call for evidence process on changes to the taxation and cost of electric cars.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2025, the Government announced a number of changes to the taxation of electric vehicles (EVs). The eVED consultation provides further detail on how eVED will work and seeks views on its implementation. The consultation is available at GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-introduction-of-electric-vehicle-excise-duty-eved.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the ineligibility of further education colleges to reclaim VAT on purchases linked to education and training on costs to those colleges.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Further Education (FE) funding is vital to ensure people are being trained in the skills they need to thrive in the modern labour market. The 2025 Spending Review provided an additional £1.2 billion per year by 2028-29 for skills and £1.7 billion of capital funding to help colleges maintain the condition of their estate. In addition, the Government is providing £375 million of capital investment to support the FE system to accommodate increasing student numbers.
For their non-business activity, FE colleges are unable to reclaim VAT incurred. We operate several VAT refund schemes for schools and academies which are designed variously to ensure that VAT is not a burden on local taxation, and that academies are not disincentivised to leave LA control. FE colleges do not meet the criteria for either scheme.
In relation to business activity, FE colleges enjoy an exemption from VAT which means that they do not have to charge VAT to students, but cannot recover it either.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025, to Question 94192, on Holiday Accommodation: Taxation, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of applying the levy to asylum seekers in hotels on costs to the public purse.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has a statutory obligation to provide support to destitute asylum seekers and as such these are not discretionary overnight stays.
The Government’s position remains that the use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers is undesirable and unsustainable. Work is underway to expand the dispersal estate and develop alternative accommodation models to better deliver value for money and reduce impact on communities.
To support local authorities, the Home Office provides significant grant funding to manage the pressures associated with asylum accommodation. This includes the Asylum Grant 395 which is designed to offset costs for councils and support local services impacted by the use of hotels and other accommodation. Under this grant local authorities received an initial payment of £1,200 per bedspace occupied on 30 March 2025; with £100 per month for each additional occupied bedspace between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.
Additional grant funding is available for the support of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and care leavers. These grants form part of a wider package of measures to ensure that local authorities are not disproportionately burdened by the statutory asylum support system.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support pubs with operating costs in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
My department works closely with hospitality businesses to assess impact of rising operating costs across energy, staffing, compliance and taxation.
This includes regular engagement with the sector, including through the Hospitality Sector Council which provides a formal forum to co-create solutions to pressures facing the industry.
We also maintain regular engagement with trade bodies such as UKHospitality and the British Beer and Pub Association, as well as colleagues across government, to ensure that policy decisions are informed by the latest evidence and genuinely support the sector’s long-term stability.