HM Treasury is the government’s economic and finance ministry, maintaining control over public spending, setting the direction of the UK’s economic policy and working to achieve strong and sustainable economic growth.
This inquiry will examine quantitative tightening, including its impact on the economy and its fiscal costs. It will also investigate …
Oral Answers to Questions is a regularly scheduled appearance where the Secretary of State and junior minister will answer at the Dispatch Box questions from backbench MPs
Other Commons Chamber appearances can be:Westminster Hall debates are performed in response to backbench MPs or e-petitions asking for a Minister to address a detailed issue
Written Statements are made when a current event is not sufficiently significant to require an Oral Statement, but the House is required to be informed.
HM Treasury does not have Bills currently before Parliament
A Bill to make provision about secondary Class 1 contributions.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 3rd April 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision about finance.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 20th March 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to amend the Crown Estate Act 1961.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 11th March 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to Authorise the use of resources for the years ending with 31 March 2024, 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2026; to authorise the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund for those years; and to appropriate the supply authorised by this Act for the years ending with 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 11th March 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision for loans or other financial assistance to be provided to, or for the benefit of, the government of Ukraine.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 16th January 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to impose duties on the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility in respect of the announcement of fiscally significant measures.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 10th September 2024 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to authorise the use of resources for the year ending with 31 March 2025; to authorise both the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund and the application of income for that year; and to appropriate the supply authorised for that year by this Act and by the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act 2024.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 30th July 2024 and was enacted into law.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000
Gov Responded - 20 Feb 2025 Debated on - 12 May 2025Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12570 to £20000. We think this would help low earners to get off benefits and allow pensioners a decent income.
Don't change inheritance tax relief for working farms
Gov Responded - 5 Dec 2024 Debated on - 10 Feb 2025We think that changing inheritance tax relief for agricultural land will devastate farms nationwide, forcing families to sell land and assets just to stay on their property. We urge the government to keep the current exemptions for working farms.
Don't apply VAT to independent school fees, or remove business rates relief.
Gov Responded - 20 Dec 2024 Debated on - 3 Mar 2025Prevent independent schools from having to pay VAT on fees and incurring business rates as a result of new legislation.
Commons Select Committees are a formally established cross-party group of backbench MPs tasked with holding a Government department to account.
At any time there will be number of ongoing investigations into the work of the Department, or issues which fall within the oversight of the Department. Witnesses can be summoned from within the Government and outside to assist in these inquiries.
Select Committee findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations.
OPBAS oversees 22 Professional Body Supervisors (PBSs) in the legal and accountancy sectors, to improve their Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) supervision. Its powers include obtaining information from PBSs, appointing skilled persons to improve supervisory work, and recommending that HM Treasury remove a PBS as an AML/CTF supervisor. OPBAS produces annual reports on PBS performance against the expectations set out in its Sourcebook. These show that OPBAS has delivered substantial improvements since 2018; however some weaknesses remain and HM Treasury has consulted on further options for reform.
The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme had issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).
The total value of payments made by the Scheme stood at £1.35 billion as of 30 May 2025, and the Scheme is on track to pay out the remainder. Annual annuity payments to the over 17,000 eligible WPAs amounted to £20.25 million in 2025.
The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme had issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).
The total value of payments made by the Scheme stood at £1.35 billion as of 30 May 2025, and the Scheme is on track to pay out the remainder. Annual annuity payments to the over 17,000 eligible WPAs amounted to £20.25 million in 2025.
The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme had issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).
The total value of payments made by the Scheme stood at £1.35 billion as of 30 May 2025, and the Scheme is on track to pay out the remainder. Annual annuity payments to the over 17,000 eligible WPAs amounted to £20.25 million in 2025.
Following recent case law from 2020, Double Cab Pick Ups with a payload of one tonne or more must be treated as cars for capital allowances purposes, in line with the Court of Appeal's judgement on the primary suitability of such vehicles.
The government recognised that this change will affect businesses, who need certainty and predictability. Which is why HMRC has put in place substantial transitional arrangements. These ensure that current owners, and those who purchased Double Cab Pick Ups before 1 April 2025 (for Corporation Tax) and 6 April 2025 for (Income Tax), and incur expenditure before 1 October 2025, are not impacted.
The purpose of the transition period was to provide certainty and allows businesses time to adapt. The government gave just under a year’s notice of the October 2025 deadline.
HMRC publishes estimates of the direct impacts of illustrative tax changes in its Direct effects of illustrative tax changes publication. The Government does not routinely publish costings for hypothetical tax changes outside of this.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the wealthiest in society pay their fair share of tax. The reforms announced at Autumn Budget 2024 were designed to help repair the public finances in a fair and balanced way.
HMRC publishes estimates of the direct impacts of illustrative tax changes in its Direct effects of illustrative tax changes publication. The Government does not routinely publish costings for hypothetical tax changes outside of this.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the wealthiest in society pay their fair share of tax. The reforms announced at Autumn Budget 2024 were designed to help repair the public finances in a fair and balanced way.
HMRC is responsible for collecting customs duties on behalf of the UK Government, not the European Union.
Under the Windsor Framework, where goods are moving from Great Britain to the EU via Northern Ireland, HMRC will charge the EU rate of duty. This duty is paid to HMRC and not remitted to the EU.
HMRC publishes data on customs duties collected on an annual and monthly basis. However, this is provided on a national level and is not broken down into movements via specific ports. The information can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk.
HMRC does not disclose the value of outstanding customs duties as this data may be commercially sensitive. HMRC has well established processes to collect duties that are due, such as duty deferment accounts.
The Government provided support for small businesses at Autumn Budget by:
At the Spending Review, we have increased the financial capacity of the British Business Bank to £25.6bn, which will enable a two-thirds increase in support for SMEs across the UK.
This Government is supporting rural businesses with substantial investment in farming, nature, transport and digital connectivity. The Government will invest more than £2.7 billion a year in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026-27 until 2028-29. The Government has confirmed investment of £1.9 billion over four years into digital connectivity, and £2.3 billion of Local Transport Grant funding for smaller cities, towns and rural areas.
The Government has protected smaller family businesses from BPR changes, providing a very significant level of relief with the first £1 million of business assets continuing to receive 100% relief and then 50% thereafter.
The UK-Singapore Financial Dialogue took place on 2 July 2025. Both the UK and Singapore recognised the importance of collaborating to promote high-integrity carbon markets. The use of transition credits to support emissions reductions in hard-to-abate sectors was discussed between both countries.
As co-chair of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, the UK supports the work of the France-Indonesia co-led Coal Transition Commission that recognises the potential of transition credits to accelerate coal plant closures as part of a possible solution set. If designed and executed properly, transition credit methodologies could help bridge the financial gap that often hinders early retirement of coal plants in emerging markets and developing economies, while supporting a just transition for affected communities.
A consultation on steps Government could take to raise integrity and scale in voluntary carbon markets closed on July 10. It sought views on how the UK’s Principles for Carbon and Nature Market Integrity, announced by the Chancellor last year, could be put into practice.
As stated in my Answer of 25 June, the Chancellor discussed a range of economic and financial issues during her visit to China for the 2025 UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue. The Chancellor published a written ministerial statement about her visit on the morning of Monday 13 January (found here) and delivered an oral statement to the House of Commons on Tuesday 14 January (found here).
The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime.
In October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for authorised push payment (APP) scams which take place over the Faster Payments system, as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2023. The PSR’s regime requires payment service providers to reimburse victims for losses up to £85,000 for scams which took place after 7 October 2024.
In cases where consumers have been impacted by financial fraud and are not covered by these rules, they should contact their bank in the first instance. Victims may have access to recourse through the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which can consider individual complaints between consumers and financial firms. This includes on fraud providing the activity is within the FOS’s jurisdiction, which is set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FOS can consider whether or not the firm has acted fairly, however, any criminal investigation would be a matter for the police.
HM Treasury is working with colleagues in the Home Office as they develop a new, expanded Fraud Strategy. This will be published in due course as part of the Government’s Plan for Change and in line with our manifesto commitments.
A detailed assessment of the policy has been published by HMRC in their Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) also publishes Economic and Fiscal Outlooks (EFOs), which set out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances. With all policies considered, the OBR's March 2025 EFO forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029.
This Government is committed to providing young people with the best start to their working lives. We have committed to deliver a Youth Guarantee so that all 18 to 21-year-olds in England have access to education, training or help to find a job or an apprenticeship. The Government is also expanding Sector-based Work Academy Programmes to provide 100,000 places in 2025/26, providing a work placement, training and a guaranteed interview that can kickstart a new career and support young people into work.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
The Government currently provides VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of defibrillators. For example, when an Automated External Defibrillator is purchased with funds provided by a charity and then donated to an eligible body, no VAT is charged. Furthermore, all state schools in England have been fitted with AEDs.
The National Wealth Fund (NWF) identifies investment opportunities across the UK and has dedicated directors in each of the four nations to support its view of markets across the country. 80% of the NWF's portfolio is outside of London and the South-East.
The NWF's success is assessed across a range of measures, including that it should have a good geographical spread of its activity across the nations and regions of the UK
In October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for authorised push payment (APP) scams which take place over the Faster Payments system, as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2023. The PSR’s regime requires payment service providers to reimburse victims for losses up to £85,000. FSMA 2023 also gave the PSR powers to take action to require reimbursement for other payment systems which have been designated by HMT.
The details of the reimbursement regime and its enforcement are a matter for the independent PSR, but it has committed to carry out an independent evaluation of the reimbursement requirement after the rules have been in place for 12 months, including considering the maximum level of reimbursement.
In October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for authorised push payment (APP) scams which take place over the Faster Payments system, as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2023. The PSR’s regime requires payment service providers to reimburse victims for losses up to £85,000. FSMA 2023 also gave the PSR powers to take action to require reimbursement for other payment systems which have been designated by HMT.
The details of the reimbursement regime and its enforcement are a matter for the independent PSR, but it has committed to carry out an independent evaluation of the reimbursement requirement after the rules have been in place for 12 months, including considering the maximum level of reimbursement.
In October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for authorised push payment (APP) scams which take place over the Faster Payments system, as required by the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2023. The PSR’s regime requires payment service providers to reimburse victims for losses up to £85,000. FSMA 2023 also gave the PSR powers to take action to require reimbursement for other payment systems which have been designated by HMT.
The details of the reimbursement regime and its enforcement are a matter for the independent PSR, but it has committed to carry out an independent evaluation of the reimbursement requirement after the rules have been in place for 12 months, including considering the maximum level of reimbursement.
As set out in the Spending Review (SR) 2025 document, published 11 June 2025, the Phase 2 settlement provides an average 1.7% real terms increase per year in police spending power. Over the SR period, police spending power is projected to increase by an average 2.3% per year in real terms.
Police spending power includes projected spending from additional income, including estimated funding from the police council tax precept.
However, this remains subject to final decision on precept levels and individual police and crime commissioner decisions. The final police precept level and core government funding will be set out in the annual police funding settlement in the usual way.
The Government recognises the vital role hospices play in supporting people at the end of life alongside their families. We are determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, and hospices will have a big role to play in that shift.
We are investing £100 million to improve hospices facilities, and a further £26 million for children’s hospices this year, the biggest investment in hospices in a generation. Further information on funding for future years will be provided by the Department for Health and Social Care in due course.
The Spending Review published last month set multi-year departmental budgets, providing departments with greater budget certainty. NHS day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms by 2028-29 compared to 2023-24. This is equivalent to a 3% average annual real terms growth rate over the SR period.
Ministers have regular discussions with a range of stakeholders, including key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders.
The Government recognises the vital role hospices play in supporting people at the end of life alongside their families. We are determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, and hospices will have a big role to play in that shift.
We are investing £100 million to improve hospices facilities, and a further £26 million for children’s hospices this year, the biggest investment in hospices in a generation. Further information on funding for future years will be provided by the Department for Health and Social Care in due course.
The Spending Review published last month set multi-year departmental budgets, providing departments with greater budget certainty. NHS day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms by 2028-29 compared to 2023-24. This is equivalent to a 3% average annual real terms growth rate over the SR period.
Ministers have regular discussions with a range of stakeholders, including key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders.
The Government recognises the vital role hospices play in supporting people at the end of life alongside their families. We are determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, and hospices will have a big role to play in that shift.
We are investing £100 million to improve hospices facilities, and a further £26 million for children’s hospices this year, the biggest investment in hospices in a generation. Further information on funding for future years will be provided by the Department for Health and Social Care in due course.
The Spending Review published last month set multi-year departmental budgets, providing departments with greater budget certainty. NHS day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms by 2028-29 compared to 2023-24. This is equivalent to a 3% average annual real terms growth rate over the SR period.
Ministers have regular discussions with a range of stakeholders, including key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders.
On 28 February 2025, the City of London Police announced that it was investigating allegations of fraud in relation to the 79th Group. It is understood that the 79th Group offered investment opportunities involving loan notes that were marketed as being secured against properties. The investigation remains in progress.
A number of entities in the 79th Group have been placed into administration. On 14 July 2025 the joint administrators published an update on the administration, which can be viewed on the Companies House website.
My department regularly discusses Strategic Priorities Grant funding and its fiscal implications with the Department for Education. As a result of the challenging fiscal context that we inherited, we are prioritising support for high-cost subjects that are essential to delivery of our industrial strategy – such as science, engineering and medicine – and core funding to support access to higher education for disadvantaged groups. It is important that the targeted funding allocated through the Strategic Priorities Grant supports provision of subjects that have higher costs of delivery and the key sectors set out in the Industrial Strategy.
It is vital the tax system supports our growth mission. The Government is focused on unleashing the potential of people across all nations and regions of the UK, with an ambition of an 80 per cent employment rate.
The Government continues to keep all elements of the tax system under review.
The government meets regularly with the FCA to discuss a range of topics. The government is content that the legislative framework, set by parliament, which gives the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) powers to supervise the financial services sector and enforce rules, is appropriate, and that the FCA has the correct tools available to enable it to investigate and act on evidence of malpractice and criminality.
The FCA is required by legislation to have regard to the principle that regulators should exercise their functions as transparently as possible. The FCA is also required not to disclose confidential information it receives in the course of carrying out its functions, with limited exceptions including where required to carry out its functions or otherwise required by law.
The government expects the FCA to act in accordance with high standards of transparency and operational efficiency, and will continue to hold the FCA to account for how it exercises its functions.
The government meets regularly with the FCA to discuss a range of topics. The government is content that the legislative framework, set by parliament, which gives the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) powers to supervise the financial services sector and enforce rules, is appropriate, and that the FCA has the correct tools available to enable it to investigate and act on evidence of malpractice and criminality.
The FCA is required by legislation to have regard to the principle that regulators should exercise their functions as transparently as possible. The FCA is also required not to disclose confidential information it receives in the course of carrying out its functions, with limited exceptions including where required to carry out its functions or otherwise required by law.
The government expects the FCA to act in accordance with high standards of transparency and operational efficiency, and will continue to hold the FCA to account for how it exercises its functions.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) publishes this information monthly, based on information collected by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). The latest publication was released on 18 June 2025 at: Private rent and house prices, UK - Office for National Statistics and includes the 12 months leading up to May 2025.
As of May 2025:
Details of these contracts are available on Contracts Finder at the following links:
· Professional Services: Client Side Delivery Partner to Support Initial Beta Stage, NDR Reforms Programme - Contracts FinderHMRC Customer Compliance Group’s guidance specifically states that there is no de-minimis limit for suspected fraud referrals and does not contain any instructions that would limit investigation in relation to timespan of the tax at risk.
HMRC’s Risk and Intelligence Service deliver a wide range of cases, including where there is suspected evasion behaviour. CCG use a variety of indicators to identify the highest risk cases to address different compliance risks, but do not use an estimated loss of £35,000 for five years or more as a standard selection criteria.
The Chancellor, alongside her G7 counterparts, has reached an understanding on a proposed path forward for the global minimum tax, Pillar 2 of the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).
The G7 published a statement on 28 June that set out our commitment to the core objectives of Pillar 2: tackling multinational tax avoidance and promoting a stable global tax environment that supports fair competition
This understanding also included the removal of the retaliatory tax provision (Section 899) in the US’s legislative proposals, which would have imposed a significant additional tax burden on British firms and which was causing significant concern and uncertainty.
Recent discussions informing this understanding have taken into account concerns raised by the US Treasury regarding the interaction of the Pillar 2 rules with the US minimum tax system, and have focused on developing a potential approach for the US and Pillar 2 system to sit ‘side-by-side’
The more than 140 members of the Inclusive Framework will now take forward the discussions on this potential side-by-side system, which will include ensuring that multinationals in scope of Pillar 2 and the US minimum tax systems are operating on a level playing field.
Work to develop a side-by-side system will be undertaken alongside material simplifications being delivered to the overall Pillar 2 administration and compliance framework. The government is committed to driving forward progress, for example on a permanent safe harbour to help deliver this simplification.
Where agreements are reached in the Inclusive Framework, the government will incorporate any updates into UK legislation. This is in line with the government’s commitment in the October 2024 Corporate Tax Roadmap to ensure that the UK reflects internationally agreed rules.
The Chancellor, alongside her G7 counterparts, has reached an understanding on a proposed path forward for the global minimum tax, Pillar 2 of the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).
The G7 published a statement on 28 June that set out our commitment to the core objectives of Pillar 2: tackling multinational tax avoidance and promoting a stable global tax environment that supports fair competition.
This understanding also included the removal of the retaliatory tax provision (Section 899) in the US’s legislative proposals, which would have imposed a significant additional tax burden on British firms, and which was causing significant concern and uncertainty.
Recent discussions informing this understanding have taken into account concerns raised by the US Treasury regarding the interaction of the Pillar 2 rules with the US minimum tax system, and have focused on developing a potential approach for the US and Pillar 2 system to sit ‘side-by-side’
The more than 140 members of the Inclusive Framework will now take forward the discussions on this potential side-by-side system, which will include ensuring that multinationals in scope of Pillar 2 and the US minimum tax systems are operating on a level playing field.
The UK has already implemented the Pillar 2 rules, including a domestic minimum tax that will ensure all in-scope groups are subject to a minimum 15% effective tax rate in the UK.
The Government announced in June 2025 that the Winter Fuel Payment will be made universal in England and Wales from winter 2025. Subsequently, the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive have confirmed that they will mirror the approach for England and Wales.
Winter Fuel Payments of £200 will be made for a household with someone of State Pension age and £300 for a household with someone aged 80 or over. They will be paid automatically to anyone who has not opted out of getting a payment.
Individuals who are of State Pension age and have total income over £35,000 will have their Winter Fuel Payment recovered through the tax system. The amount recovered will be equal to the full value of the Winter Fuel Payment.
If a pensioner’s total income is above the income threshold, it will be automatically recovered through PAYE, or through their Self-Assessment return if they pay tax that way.
The Government will publish further details of the operational impacts on HM Revenue and Customs of making these changes in a Tax Information and Impact Note at Budget 2025, alongside draft Finance Bill legislation on the tax recovery of the Winter Fuel Payment.
Goods moving from Great Britain to the EU via Northern Ireland will complete a full customs declaration and pay the applicable rate of duty, subject to any waivers or reliefs, as an international goods movement. These customs declarations are validated electronically by HMRC’s Customs Declaration Service (CDS).
There are no HMRC employed staff at ports in Northern Ireland, and HMRC does not have, and is not building, any port infrastructure at ports in Northern Ireland.
HMRC and its Customer Compliance Group (CCG), is subject to a wide range of independent oversight and actively engages with a range of independent assurance, both internal and external.
Internally, HMRC maintains robust governance structures, including oversight by its Executive Committee and HMRC Board, alongside newly established subcommittees of the Board such as the Closing the Tax Gap Committee chaired by non-executive director Bill Dodwell – with a significant focus on the work of Customer Compliance Group.
Externally, HMRC is held to account by Parliamentary authorities, including the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC), the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), and the National Audit Office (NAO) who regularly undertake both financial and value for money scrutiny of HMRC and its Customer Compliance Group. Recent reports include those into tax evasion in the retail sector, managing compliance work since the pandemic and collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals – all of which primarily focused upon the work of HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group.
HMRC Customer Compliance Group welcomes Parliamentary scrutiny and has accepted 93.5% of recommendations of these bodies in the last 24 months aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the Department. HMRC is working to implement the recommendations by the deadlines agreed with the respective bodies.
Customers can also ask the independent Adjudicator’s Office to review complaints after they have been investigated, if they are dissatisfied with how they have been handled by the Department.
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility also publishes Economic and Fiscal Outlooks (EFOs), which set out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.
With all policies considered, the OBR's March 2025 EFO forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029
The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from the changes to employer NICs by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.
HM Treasury follows guidance from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Government Statistical Service (GSS) on data collection using harmonised standards to ensure comparability across government. The current ethnicity standard is based on 2011 Census questions, which were reviewed and updated for the 2021 Census. The GSS has been conducting a comprehensive review of the ethnicity standard since March 2022, considering a range of user needs.
HM Treasury also collects staff data on ethnic group, national identity and religion, which helps capture fuller cultural identity beyond ethnicity alone. The ONS recognises that ethnic group membership is self-defined and subjectively meaningful to individuals, and there is no universal consensus on what constitutes an ethnic group.
The religion harmonised standard includes Sikh and Jewish response options, and any changes to data collection categories, including ethnicity, would follow the updated GSS harmonised standard once their review concludes. We continue to monitor this review closely and will implement any revised standards that emerge from the GSS process.
The timing for any changes will depend on when the GSS completes its review and issues updated guidance to departments.
The UK is committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure inclusive and effective international tax cooperation, and has been engaging in discussions at the UN over a future Framework Convention, including the recent informal sessions for the technical workstreams.
The UK believes that a UN Tax Framework Convention has the potential to further advance international tax cooperation, but to be successful, it needs to be clear in its aims, avoid duplicating initiatives, and seek to secure the broad support and participation of members.
Increasing productivity is vital in driving economic growth, in turn improving the living standards of working people and putting money into people’s pockets. That is why growth is the priority mission of this government and why we continue to take steps to boost productivity.
This includes increasing the capital envelope by £120 billion over the SR period. Additional capacity announced at Spending Review 2025 and the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy has allowed the government to increase the capacity of Public Financial Institutions by around 60% this Parliament, to £153 billion. We are also removing barriers to investment through ambitious planning reforms, and championing growth-enhancing sectors through our modern Industrial Strategy.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), in its role as an independent economic forecaster, has assessed the impact of the increase in capital departmental expenditure limits (CDEL) announced at Autumn Budget 2024 and the planning reforms set out at Spring Statement 2025. The OBR estimated that the CDEL increase would raise real GDP by approximately 0.26% after ten years, while the planning reforms were assessed to increase real GDP by around 0.42% over the same period.
Seven Fujitsu contracts have been extended by HMRC in the past 12 months to ensure continuity of essential services. These are: the Call-Off Contract for COTS Software (Oracle), Crown Hosting Run, Data Services, Data Project Services, Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) and Vulnerability Managed Service, Pre-Production Environment (PPE) Web Solutions, and the Trader Support Service. As a public contracting authority, HMRC adheres to the procurement rules and spend controls set by the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, obtaining appropriate ministerial approval where required. Of the seven contracts, six had extension values below the Cabinet Office Spend Control threshold of £20 million and were approved internally by HMRC in line with established processes and governance controls. Only one contract—the Trader Support Service—exceeded the threshold (£66.8 million) and therefore required both Cabinet Office Spend Control and Ministerial Approval.
Since 1 January 2021, online marketplaces are required to register and account for VAT for supplies of low value imports of £135 or less facilitated by their platforms. Where an overseas seller sells goods located in the UK at the point of sale via an online marketplace, the online marketplace is liable for the VAT for goods of any value.
The Government is aware that some compliance challenges still persist and therefore recently announced it will explore the merits of reform to online marketplace liability. If any policy decisions are taken, their impact will be considered in the normal way.
Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is expected to generate £1.95 billion in additional tax revenue by 2029–30 by reducing taxpayer errors through digital record-keeping and quarterly updates using MTD-compatible software.
The estimate is the expected reduction in the tax gap due to error and failure to take reasonable care among Self Assessment taxpayers based on the number of taxpayers expected to participate in MTD, and on evidence from evaluation of MTD for VAT.
Additional revenue is also expected from digital prompts to encourage more accurate reporting, with effects estimated using controlled trials.
These calculations have been certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
At Spending Review 2025, the Government allocated an additional £1.2 billion per year for skills by 2028-29. Final allocations for all skills programmes, including the growth and skills offer, will be confirmed in due course.
The government recognises that cyber insurance is an important tool for businesses' economic resilience. HM Treasury works closely with industry, regulators, other government departments and relevant stakeholders to monitor insurance markets, including cyber. Cyber insurance is widely offered in the UK insurance market and the government would encourage businesses to shop around, or employ the services of a broker, to find the most appropriate cover, at the best price.
The owners or operators of subsea cables and other off-shore assets are responsible for the insurance of their assets.
There is a wide variety of insurance products available in the UK market, including from speciality insurers. The government would always recommend the companies shop around, or engage the services of a specialist broker, to ensure they can access the cover they need at the best price.
As the Prime Minister announced in February, we are fully funding the path to 2.5% by reducing ODA spending. That is why we can announce a £10.9bn real-terms increase to the MOD budget over the Spending Review period. On top of this, we are recognising the contribution provided by our intelligence agencies on defence, in line with practice among our Allies. This means that in 2027-28 we expect to reach 2.6% of GDP
The increase in defence spending will be funded by reducing ODA from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2027, and reinvesting it into defence.
The government’s core gilt programme is the most stable and cost-effective way of raising finance to fund the day-to-day activities of the government, owing to the depth and liquidity of the market. This is, in part, down to the fungibility of the instruments issued to the market. Issuing bonds aimed at financing specific areas of spending risks fragmenting the gilt market, which would not be consistent with the government’s debt management objective of minimising the long-term cost of financing, taking into account risk.
The government keeps under regular review the introduction of new debt instruments. The government would however need to be satisfied that any new instrument would meet value-for-money criteria, enjoy strong and sustained demand in the long term, and be consistent with wider fiscal objectives.