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: 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: 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: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assess and mitigate the impact of private medical insurance fees on the quality and suitability of care provided to patients with private medical insurance.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is determined that all insurers, including private medical insurers, treat consumers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules.
The FCA requires insurers to ensure their products offer fair value, meaning the price a consumer pays for a product or service must be reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive. The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to make sure they comply with this rule and will take action where necessary.
All providers of healthcare are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall, while the General Medical Council is responsible for regulating doctors in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the Financial Conduct Authority survey indicating an increase in adults across the UK struggling to pay bills due to the high cost of living, and what steps they are taking to help individuals and families facing financial difficulties.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The FCA’s 2024 Cost of Living survey found a reduction in the number of people finding it hard to manage higher costs of living since January 2023.
The government has already provided support to help with the cost of living totalling £96 billion from 2022-23 to 2023-2024 – an average of £3400 per UK household.
Further actions taken by the government in 2024-25 include: a rise in the National Living Wage (NLW) by 9.8% - ending low hourly pay for workers on the NLW, raising Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of market rents, uprating working-age benefits by 6.7%, freezing fuel duty, removing Debt Relief Order fees, and doubling the Budgeting Advance Loan repayment period.
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: Lord Moylan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they had with the "build to rent" sector to understand the impact of the proposed abolition of the Stamp Duty Land Tax Multiple Dwellings Relief announced in the Spring Budget, beyond the consultation from November 2021 to February 2022.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The abolition of Multiple Dwellings Relief follows an external evaluation which found no strong evidence the relief is meeting its original objectives of supporting investment in the private rented sector.
Larger investors who purchase 6 or more properties in a single transaction can still continue to benefit from the non-residential rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax.
The government will continue to engage with stakeholders in the build to rent sector to understand any concerns.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of (a) the role and (b) trends in the value of (i) bitcoin and (ii) other major cryptocurrencies in the economy in the next (A) five and (B) 10 years.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)