HM Treasury

The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, while ensuring that warehouses used by online giants will pay more. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

The Government is paying for lower tax rates for RHL through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. Large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants, will pay around £100m more in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail.

The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, while ensuring that warehouses used by online giants will pay more. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

The Government is paying for lower tax rates for RHL through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. Large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants, will pay around £100m more in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail.

The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, while ensuring that warehouses used by online giants will pay more. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

The Government is paying for lower tax rates for RHL through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. Large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants, will pay around £100m more in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail.

The government is committed to enabling investment so that airports can play their full role in the growth mission.

Properties seeing large bill increases as a result of the business rates revaluation - including airports - will benefit from a redesigned transitional relief scheme worth £3.2 billion over the next 3 years.

At Budget 2025, the government also published a Call for Evidence on Business Rates and Investment. It will explore the concerns that airports and a small number of other ratepayers have raised around the ‘Receipts & Expenditure’ valuation methodology and its impacts on long-term, high value investments. The government is seeking to address issues raised ahead of the 2029 revaluation, aiming to conclude this work in sufficient time before pre-list discussion commences.

The government is committed to enabling investment so that airports can play their full role in the growth mission.

Properties seeing large bill increases as a result of the business rates revaluation - including airports - will benefit from a redesigned transitional relief scheme worth £3.2 billion over the next 3 years.

At Budget 2025, the government also published a Call for Evidence on Business Rates and Investment. It will explore the concerns that airports and a small number of other ratepayers have raised around the ‘Receipts & Expenditure’ valuation methodology and its impacts on long-term, high value investments. The government is seeking to address issues raised ahead of the 2029 revaluation, aiming to conclude this work in sufficient time before pre-list discussion commences.

The UK ETS Authority announced in July 2023 that free allocation would end for the Aviation sector in 2026, after considering stakeholder feedback which largely supported the finding that removing aviation free allocation did not pose a significant risk to carbon leakage.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility is responsible for forecasting receipts from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), and has published its methodology for forecasting ETS receipts on its website.

Receipts from the UK ETS accrue to the consolidated fund, and go to funding government priorities, which includes decarbonisation support for the aviation sector.

The UK Government is supporting the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry by building demand through the SAF Mandate, supporting first-of-a-kind SAF production plants through the Advanced Fuels Fund, and derisking SAF projects by introducing legislation for the Revenue Certainty Mechanism. In 2025, the government announced £400,000 to get new fuels to market quicker, delivering on the UK’s clean energy ambitions and powering up economic growth as part of the Plan for Change.

The Valuation Office Agency will be conducting a targeted valuation to identify properties in scope of the High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS). HVCTS will then be collected by local authorities.

The Government will consult on the detailed implementation of the HVCTS in the new year, including the provision of support for those who may find it more difficult to pay. Further information on HVCTS is available at the following link:

High Value Council Tax Surcharge - GOV.UK

As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028, a new mileage charge for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, recognising that EVs contribute to congestion and wear and tear on the roads but pay no equivalent to fuel duty.

The Government has set out estimated impacts on household incomes from tax, welfare and public service spending decisions taken at Budget 2025, including eVED. These impacts are available at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69269c6222424e25e6bc31bb/Impact_on_households.pdf

The Government has also set out Exchequer and behavioural impacts from eVED and other Budget measures in the Budget 2025 Policy Costings document at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf

HMRC is committed to making sure that individuals and businesses who can pay, do so on time. Since Autumn Budget 2024, HMRC has received £782 million of investment in its debt collection activities, which will help it to collect over £12 billion more debt by the end of 2030-31.

HMRC published an update to its tax debt strategy at Budget 2025, outlining how the recent investment is helping to close the tax gap and reduce tax debt year-on-year as a percentage of receipts. The tax debt balance as a percentage of receipts fell from 5.2% in 2023-24 to 5% in 2024-25, and HMRC is aiming for this to decrease to between 3% and 4% by 2029-30.

HMRC has effective processes in place to collect debt including telephone and letter campaigns, strategic partnerships with private sector debt collection agencies, and where necessary, enforcement action. For customers who need financial support, it offers flexible Time to Pay payment plans which collect debt in affordable and sustainable instalments.

HMRC publishes quarterly performance updates on GOV.UK. You can find this here:

HMRC is committed to making sure that individuals and businesses who can pay, do so on time. Since Autumn Budget 2024, HMRC has received £782 million of investment in its debt collection activities, which will help it to collect over £12 billion more debt by the end of 2030-31.

HMRC published an update to its tax debt strategy at Budget 2025, outlining how the recent investment is helping to close the tax gap and reduce tax debt year-on-year as a percentage of receipts. The tax debt balance as a percentage of receipts fell from 5.2% in 2023-24 to 5% in 2024-25, and HMRC is aiming for this to decrease to between 3% and 4% by 2029-30.

HMRC has effective processes in place to collect debt including telephone and letter campaigns, strategic partnerships with private sector debt collection agencies, and where necessary, enforcement action. For customers who need financial support, it offers flexible Time to Pay payment plans which collect debt in affordable and sustainable instalments.

HMRC publishes quarterly performance updates on GOV.UK. You can find this here:

The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, while ensuring that warehouses used by online giants will pay more. These new lower tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

The Government is paying for lower tax rates for RHL through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. Large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants, will pay around £100m more in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are developing their approach to the targeted revaluation and will set out more details in due course, following the outcome of the Government's consultation.

In general, when valuing domestic properties, the VOA uses modern technology and industry standard techniques combined with freely available information including sales data, property attribute details and government records.

As a result of decisions at Autumn Budget 2025, through the operation of the Barnett formula:

(1) The Welsh Government will receive an additional £320 million RDELex and £185 million CDEL.

(2) The Scottish Government will receive an additional £510 million RDELex and £310 million CDEL.

(3) The Northern Ireland Executive will receive an additional £240 million RDELex and £130 million CDEL.

The Government has taken significant steps to support farmers. The Government allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over this Parliament at the Spending Review 2025.

The Government also announced at the Budget in November 2025 that any unused £1 million allowance for the 100% rate of agricultural property relief and business property relief will be transferable between spouses and civil partners. This means a surviving spouse or civil partner can benefit from an allowance of up to £2 million for combined agricultural and business assets depending on their circumstances. It also reduces the complexity and planning for spouses and civil partners seeking to make best use of the allowance between them.

As a result of decisions at Budget 2025, the Northern Ireland Executive will receive an additional £240 million RDEL excluding depreciation and £130 million CDEL over the Spending Review 2025 period (2025-26 to 2029-30) through the operation of the Barnett formula.

The Barnett formula applies to all changes to UK Government department Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) funding.

At Spending Reviews, the Barnett consequentials associated with individual programmes cannot be identified because the Barnett formula is applied to the overall change in a departments’ DEL, and not to the individual programmes driving the change in a UK department’s DEL budget. This is the case for the additional funding for childcare in England provided at Spending Review 2025.

The Welsh Government are free to allocate Barnett consequentials as they see fit across their devolved priorities, and they are accountable to the Senedd for these decisions.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are currently developing their approach to the targeted revaluation and will set out more details in due course, following the outcome of the Government's consultation.

In general, when valuing domestic properties, the VOA uses modern technology and industry standard techniques combined with freely available information including sales data, property attribute details and government records.

The VOA is meeting the majority of its performance targets. In the areas where it isn’t, it has robust service recovery plans in place. These include moving staff to where there is the greatest customer demand and upskilling its workforce in a wider range of casework, to ensure greater flexibility. It continues to prioritise any cases where a customer is facing financial hardship.

The VOA reports monthly on performance to the HMRC Executive Committee and Board. The decision to move the VOA’s functions into HMRC next year will strengthen direct accountability to ministers.

Integration is being carefully managed by a joint HMRC and VOA team, with detailed transition plans in place and appropriate oversight from my department.

Apologies. The draft 2026 Rating List valuations, and current 2023 List valuations, which can be filtered using the advanced search by special category code, can be viewed at: www.gov.uk/find-business-rates

Air Passenger Duty is levied on the airline on a per passenger basis. The charge in respect of any individual passenger does not exceed £1,000 on a long haul flight in premium economy class.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

Without this support, pubs would have faced a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year. Because of the support we’ve put in, this falls to just 4%.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

The RHL multipliers are being funded through a higher rate for high-value properties (those with a RV of £500,000 and above). These high-value properties cover the majority of distribution warehouses, including those used by the online giants. Distribution warehouses will pay around £100 million more in business rates in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail, including pubs.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

Without this support, pubs would have faced a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year. Because of the support we’ve put in, this falls to just 4%.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

The RHL multipliers are being funded through a higher rate for high-value properties (those with a RV of £500,000 and above). These high-value properties cover the majority of distribution warehouses, including those used by the online giants. Distribution warehouses will pay around £100 million more in business rates in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail, including pubs.

HMRC understands the importance of consumers receiving their parcels on time and has robust procedures alongside Border Force to help maintain the flow.

HMRC have confirmed there were no significant system outages during the period requested but has not conducted an assessment of what factors may have negatively influenced clearance times during that period.

Whilst HMRC does have average customs clearance times for declarations made on the Customs Declaration Service, it is not able to identify parcels specifically from this data and does not hold data on the average customs clearance time for parcels imported by the UK’s designated postal operator, Royal Mail.

HMRC understands the importance of consumers receiving their parcels on time and has robust procedures alongside Border Force to help maintain the flow.

HMRC have confirmed there were no significant system outages during the period requested but has not conducted an assessment of what factors may have negatively influenced clearance times during that period.

Whilst HMRC does have average customs clearance times for declarations made on the Customs Declaration Service, it is not able to identify parcels specifically from this data and does not hold data on the average customs clearance time for parcels imported by the UK’s designated postal operator, Royal Mail.

Alcohol duty is paid by producers, and is therefore not typically paid directly by pubs. Further, according to estimates derived from sales data collected on behalf of the Office for National Statistics, only around 15% of spirits are consumed on-trade.

At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated on 1 February 2026 to maintain its current real-terms value.

Using HMRC’s published ready reckoner, freezing alcohol duty rates when inflation is 3.66% would cost the Exchequer around £400m a year. This ready reckoner can be found here:

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes-bulletin-january-2025#change-in-various-duties.

The government is committed to enabling investment so that airports can play their full role in the growth mission.

HM Treasury received budget submissions from several airports and AirportsUK. Both Ministers and officials have met with the sector and corresponded throughout the year on the impact of changes to rateable values as a result of the 2026 revaluation.

Properties seeing large bill increases as a result of the business rates revaluation - including airports - will benefit from a redesigned transitional relief scheme worth £3.2 billion over the next 3 years.

At Budget 2025, the government also published a Call for Evidence on Business Rates and Investment. It will explore the concerns that airports and a small number of other ratepayers have raised around the ‘Receipts & Expenditure’ valuation methodology and its impacts on long-term, high value investments. The government is seeking to address issues raised ahead of the 2029 revaluation, aiming to conclude this work in sufficient time before pre-list discussion commences.

The overall annual ISA limit has not changed and remains at £20,000. Individuals under 65s and subscribing £12,000 in a Cash ISA can still invest the remaining £8,000 in Stocks & Shares and/or Innovative Finance ISAs and up to £4,000 in a Lifetime ISA.

HMRC estimate that 1.3 million individuals aged under 65 subscribed over £12,000 into Cash ISAs based on the latest available data.

The exchequer impact for this measure, combined with other savings measures, has been published (Page 79) in the AB25 Budget policy costing document: Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf

Economic forecasts, including assessments of the impact of policy decisions, are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The OBR publishes its forecast in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO). The OBR’s latest EFO can be found here: Economic and fiscal outlook – November 2025 - Office for Budget Responsibility.

The OBR does not expect a material impact on economy-wide growth, investment, or savings behaviour as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest. The Valuation Office Agency has published statistics on changes in the rateable value of properties in the 2026 revaluation.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. The 40% RHL relief was forecast to cost £1.7 billion in 2025/26, less than the £2.1 billion we are spending on Transitional Relief and Supporting Small Business relief in 2026/27. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

The new RHL tax rates will be 5p below the national tax rates.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest. The Valuation Office Agency has published statistics on changes in the rateable value of properties in the 2026 revaluation.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. The 40% RHL relief was forecast to cost £1.7 billion in 2025/26, less than the £2.1 billion we are spending on Transitional Relief and Supporting Small Business relief in 2026/27. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

The new RHL tax rates will be 5p below the national tax rates.

The Government is taking action to ensure income from assets are taxed more fairly. That is why we have increased taxes on property, dividend and savings income to narrow the gap between tax paid on work and tax paid on income from assets.

The majority of taxpayers, and the majority of pensioners, have no taxable savings, dividend or property income and will pay no more tax as a result of these changes.

Those with small amounts of income from assets will continue to be protected by tax-free allowances, and all income from savings and investments held in ISAs will continue to be entirely tax-free.

HM Treasury does not publish forecasts of the economy. Forecasts, including assessments of the impact of policy decisions, are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The OBR publishes its forecast in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO). The OBR’s latest EFO can be found here: Economic and fiscal outlook – November 2025 - Office for Budget Responsibility. 

The OBR does not expect a material impact on economy-wide growth as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible RHL properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties. Around 82,100 RHL properties in the East of England are expected to benefit from these lower tax rates.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

The Government is also supporting small businesses to grow by extending SBRR so that businesses opening second premises can retain their SBRR for three years, tripling the current allowance.

The Consolidated Fund is a central funding account and does not track spending by individual service area. Spending by departments is managed and recorded through departmental budgets (using set budgeting rules) and published in Annual Reports and Accounts.

The Government recognises the important contribution that sport and physical activity make to health and wellbeing in the UK.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties, worth nearly £900 million per year and benefiting over 750,000 properties, including sports and physical activity centres with rateable values under £500k.

Additionally, businesses within the physical activity sector can continue to benefit from measures including the increase in the Employment Allowance to £10,500 and the Government remains committed to the small profits rate, under which companies with profits of £50,000 or less are subject to a 19 per cent rate. Marginal relief for companies with profits of between £50,000 and £250,000 means only around 10 per cent of actively trading companies pay the full main rate of 25 per cent. This means firms within the physical activity sector that meet these conditions will continue to face lower effective corporation tax rates.

The Government recognises the important contribution that sport and physical activity make to health and wellbeing in the UK.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties, worth nearly £900 million per year and benefiting over 750,000 properties, including sports and physical activity centres with rateable values under £500k.

Additionally, businesses within the physical activity sector can continue to benefit from measures including the increase in the Employment Allowance to £10,500 and the Government remains committed to the small profits rate, under which companies with profits of £50,000 or less are subject to a 19 per cent rate. Marginal relief for companies with profits of between £50,000 and £250,000 means only around 10 per cent of actively trading companies pay the full main rate of 25 per cent. This means firms within the physical activity sector that meet these conditions will continue to face lower effective corporation tax rates.

At Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced the removal of the low value imports relief and published a technical consultation covering the design and implementation of the new LVI customs arrangements.

You can read and respond to the government’s consultation here: Reforming the customs treatment of low value imports into the United Kingdom - GOV.UK

The Government has set out its plans in this area in its small business strategy, ‘Backing Your Business’, published this summer, and in the Government’s reply to the Call for Evidence on SME Finance, published earlier this month.

As set out in the Government’s small business strategy, the Government is committed to working with lenders to ensure the appropriate use of personal guarantees. This includes the introduction of a mandatory Code of Conduct for accredited lenders that use the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme, to ensure that personal guarantees under the Scheme are used fairly and transparently.

The Government is also working with UK Finance to build on its existing lender commitments to use personal guarantees responsibly, and with the business finance community to help businesses access the right finance on the right terms, including where personal guarantees are involved.

More widely, personal guarantees can play a necessary role in business lending, where they may help enable SMEs to access lending that might otherwise not be advanced, or where the price of lending would deter SMEs from accessing finance. This includes cases where a business has limited or no trading history, nor assets for use as collateral to access debt finance. While personal guarantees may be called upon, this does not automatically result in enforcement action, and property repossessions linked to personal guarantees remain rare.

The Government will continue to keep the issues relating to personal guarantees under review and promote further transparency around their use.

The Chancellor and Treasury Ministers regularly engage with banks on a range of issues, including access to banking services.

Banking is changing, with many customers benefiting from the convenience and flexibility of managing their finances remotely. However, Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to high streets and communities and is committed to championing sufficient access for customers. The financial services industry is committed to rolling out 350 banking hubs across the UK by the end of this Parliament. Over 240 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 190 are already open. Government is working closely with industry on this commitment.

While decisions on branch provision are commercial decisions for banks themselves, Financial Conduct Authority guidance requires firms to conduct a robust impact analysis. In the case of closures, firms must show they have considered customer needs and identified potential reasonable alternatives. The FCA also expects engagement with stakeholders at least 12 weeks before closure and firms must ensure that any replacement services are in place before a branch closes. These measures aim to ensure closures are implemented fairly and transparently.

As well as bank branches, alternative non-digital options to access everyday banking services include telephone banking and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers of participating banks to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at thousands of Post Office branches across the UK.

Some banks also provide points of access through initiatives such as pop-up services in libraries and community centres, or mobile banking vans serving remote areas. The Government supports initiatives which give customers access to in-person banking, as well as digital access.

As I set out in my answer to WPQ 95612, the Chancellor has said that over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.

The government will set out more details next year.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, fixing the public finances, and funding public services. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.

As announced at Budget 2025, any unused £1 million allowance for the 100% rate of agricultural property relief and business property relief will be transferable between spouses and civil partners, including if the first death was before 6 April 2026.

There are no changes to the underlying qualifying criteria or definitions for agricultural property relief and business property relief. For example, the longstanding rules mean, in order to qualify for agricultural property relief, the property must normally be agricultural property and occupied for agricultural purposes, such as cultivation to produce food for human and animal consumption. More information can be found at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/inheritance-tax-manual/ihtm24060.

There is a difference between the total value of a farm and the amount being passed on at death. For example, a farm can be jointly owned by multiple people or family members, meaning each individual’s claim for tax relief can relate to less than the total value of the whole farm. This is explained in more detail in the letter from the then Exchequer to the Treasury to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in January 2025. This is available at https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/46267/documents/232537/default/.

Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or national breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to 375 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. This is a reduction from up to 520 estates forecast to pay more at Autumn Budget 2024. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.

A report by the independent Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) published in August 2025, prior to the announcement at Budget 2025, concluded that half of the estates paying more would see an increase in their effective inheritance tax rate of less than 5 percentage points, and 86 per cent of these estates could pay their entire inheritance tax bill out of non-farm assets.

An updated tax information and impact note was published alongside Budget 2025 on 26 November 2025. This explains that the measure is not expected to have a material impact on food security or have a significant macroeconomic impact. It is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-changes.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, fixing the public finances, and funding public services. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.

As announced at Budget 2025, any unused £1 million allowance for the 100% rate of agricultural property relief and business property relief will be transferable between spouses and civil partners, including if the first death was before 6 April 2026.

There are no changes to the underlying qualifying criteria or definitions for agricultural property relief and business property relief. For example, the longstanding rules mean, in order to qualify for agricultural property relief, the property must normally be agricultural property and occupied for agricultural purposes, such as cultivation to produce food for human and animal consumption. More information can be found at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/inheritance-tax-manual/ihtm24060.

There is a difference between the total value of a farm and the amount being passed on at death. For example, a farm can be jointly owned by multiple people or family members, meaning each individual’s claim for tax relief can relate to less than the total value of the whole farm. This is explained in more detail in the letter from the then Exchequer to the Treasury to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in January 2025. This is available at https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/46267/documents/232537/default/.

Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or national breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to 375 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. This is a reduction from up to 520 estates forecast to pay more at Autumn Budget 2024. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.

A report by the independent Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) published in August 2025, prior to the announcement at Budget 2025, concluded that half of the estates paying more would see an increase in their effective inheritance tax rate of less than 5 percentage points, and 86 per cent of these estates could pay their entire inheritance tax bill out of non-farm assets.

An updated tax information and impact note was published alongside Budget 2025 on 26 November 2025. This explains that the measure is not expected to have a material impact on food security or have a significant macroeconomic impact. It is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-changes.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, fixing the public finances, and funding public services. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.

As announced at Budget 2025, any unused £1 million allowance for the 100% rate of agricultural property relief and business property relief will be transferable between spouses and civil partners, including if the first death was before 6 April 2026.

There are no changes to the underlying qualifying criteria or definitions for agricultural property relief and business property relief. For example, the longstanding rules mean, in order to qualify for agricultural property relief, the property must normally be agricultural property and occupied for agricultural purposes, such as cultivation to produce food for human and animal consumption. More information can be found at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/inheritance-tax-manual/ihtm24060.

There is a difference between the total value of a farm and the amount being passed on at death. For example, a farm can be jointly owned by multiple people or family members, meaning each individual’s claim for tax relief can relate to less than the total value of the whole farm. This is explained in more detail in the letter from the then Exchequer to the Treasury to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in January 2025. This is available at https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/46267/documents/232537/default/.

Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or national breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to 375 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. This is a reduction from up to 520 estates forecast to pay more at Autumn Budget 2024. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.

A report by the independent Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) published in August 2025, prior to the announcement at Budget 2025, concluded that half of the estates paying more would see an increase in their effective inheritance tax rate of less than 5 percentage points, and 86 per cent of these estates could pay their entire inheritance tax bill out of non-farm assets.

An updated tax information and impact note was published alongside Budget 2025 on 26 November 2025. This explains that the measure is not expected to have a material impact on food security or have a significant macroeconomic impact. It is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-changes.