Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) calls and (b) online submissions have been made to HMRC fraud hotline in relation to (i) illegal tobacco and (ii) illegal alcohol in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The tables below show the number of contacts received by HMRC Fraud Reporting Gateway in relation to Alcohol and Tobacco:
Alcohol:
Year | Online Submission | Telephone Submission | Total |
24/25 | 31,728 | 7,857 | 39,585 |
23/24 | 27,443 | 9,045 | 36,488 |
22/23 | 30,688 | 8,184 | 38,872 |
21/22 | 21,107 | 10,674 | 31,781 |
20/21 | 27,296 | 8,152 | 35,448 |
Tobacco:
Year | Online Submission | Telephone Submission | Total |
24/25 | 7,605 | 2,094 | 9,699 |
23/24 | 5,416 | 1,873 | 7,289 |
22/23 | 5,625 | 2,060 | 7,685 |
21/22 | 1,558 | 2,424 | 3,982 |
20/21 | 1,988 | 1,535 | 3,523 |
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential cost to the public purse of abolishing the (a) High Income Child Benefit Charge and (b) reductions in the level of Personal Allowance for people earning over (i) £100,00 and (ii) £125,000.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to managing the public finances responsibly. The High Income Child Benefit Charge ensures that the Government supports the majority of families while keeping welfare expenditure sustainable.
Data showing tax revenue raised by the High Income Child Benefit Charge in each financial year is published within Table 1 of HMRC’s Child Benefit statistics.
For individuals with income above £100,000, the Personal Allowance is withdrawn gradually, with £1 of allowance lost for every £2 of income above the income limit of £100,000. This reduction continues until the Personal Allowance is completely withdrawn for those with incomes above £125,140.
The total income tax liability for those earning above £100,000 is published online in Table 2.5 of HMRC’s income tax liabilities statistics. For the 2024-25 tax year, this is estimated at £145 billion, almost half of the estimated income tax revenue for this year.
As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the withdrawal of the Personal Allowance and the High Income Child Benefit Charge under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy not to increase employee National Insurance contributions in the Spring Statement 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The OBR’s spring forecast will take place on 26th March and be accompanied by a statement to Parliament from the Chancellor.
Ahead of the statement responding to the forecast, the Government will not give a running commentary on economic developments.
The Government is committed to not increasing the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, Employee National Insurance contributions or VAT.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy not to implement a wealth tax on assets above a certain threshold in the Spring Statement 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK does not have a standalone wealth tax, though there are several long-standing taxes on assets and wealth that generate substantial revenue for the government.
In addition to collecting substantial revenue from existing taxes on wealth and assets, the UK also has a progressive income tax system.
The Government is committed to making sure the wealthiest in our society pay their fair share of tax. That is why the Chancellor announced a series of reforms at Autumn Budget 2024 to help fix the public finances in as fair a way as possible. These and other decisions announced at the Budget will help repair the public finances and fund public services such as the NHS and education.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy not to (a) lower inheritance tax thresholds and (b) increase inheritance tax rates in the Spring Statement 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has been commissioned for an Economic and Fiscal Forecast, which will be published on 26 March 2025. This is in line with the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 which requires the OBR to produce two forecasts each financial year. This will be accompanied by a statement to Parliament from the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Government set out its plans for inheritance tax at Autumn Budget 2024, including fixing the nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band at their current levels for a further two years in 2028-29 and 2029-30.
The Government remains committed to one major fiscal event a year to give families and businesses stability and certainty on upcoming tax and spending changes and, in turn, to support the Government’s growth mission.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish detailed impact assessments for future tax increases.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As it does with all tax policy changes, the government has published Tax Information and Impact Notes for the tax policy changes announced at Budget, which give a clear explanation of the policy objective together with details of the tax impact on the Exchequer, the economy, individuals, businesses, civil society organisations and any equality or other specific area of impact.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the potential reduction in tax revenues from non-UK domiciled individuals leaving the UK.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s priority is improving the UK’s competitiveness internationally and securing economic growth. The non-dom reforms have been specifically designed to make the UK competitive with a modern, simple tax regime that is also fair. The reforms establish a tax regime for new residents, which is more attractive to new arrivals than the current rules.
The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note for this policy on 30 October. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-changes-for-non-uk-domiciled-individuals/reforming-the-taxation-of-non-uk-domiciled-individuals.
There have always been relatively large flows of non-doms in and out of the UK every year. For example. in the latest HMRC statistics for tax year 2022/23, 8,000 non-doms left and 13,000 arrived.
We anticipate that some non-doms ineligible for the new regime will exit the UK in response to the changes. Taking this migration response into account, the OBR expects the non-dom reforms to raise £33.8 billion over the next five years to help fund the public services and investment projects needed to drive growth.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to encourage high net wealth individuals to remain in the UK.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s priority is improving the UK’s competitiveness internationally and securing economic growth. The non-dom reforms have been specifically designed to make the UK competitive with a modern, simple tax regime that is also fair. The reforms establish a tax regime for new residents, which is more attractive to new arrivals than the current rules.
The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note for this policy on 30 October. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-changes-for-non-uk-domiciled-individuals/reforming-the-taxation-of-non-uk-domiciled-individuals.
There have always been relatively large flows of non-doms in and out of the UK every year. For example. in the latest HMRC statistics for tax year 2022/23, 8,000 non-doms left and 13,000 arrived.
We anticipate that some non-doms ineligible for the new regime will exit the UK in response to the changes. Taking this migration response into account, the OBR expects the non-dom reforms to raise £33.8 billion over the next five years to help fund the public services and investment projects needed to drive growth.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing changes to the Agricultural Property Relief threshold.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 fixing the public finances in a fair way. 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.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing (a) beer duty and (b) other alcohol duties for pubs.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pubs make an enormous contribution to our economy and society, and this is recognised in the tax system.
Draught Relief provides a duty discount for all draught products below 8.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV). Around 60% of alcoholic drinks served in pubs are covered by this relief.
At the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor increased this relief from 9.2% to 13.9%. This represents an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year and is equivalent to a 1p duty reduction on a typical pint.