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 - Chief Secretary to the 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 - Chief Secretary to the 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 - Chief Secretary to the 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.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to agricultural property relief on (a) the UK’s food security and (b) trends in the numbers of farms in the next five years.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the 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.
The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, in 2026-27 paying more inheritance tax. 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. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can in most circumstances pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.
The Government’s commitment to farmers and the vital role they play in feeding our nation remains steadfast. Food security is national security. That is why, despite the fiscal constraints, we have prioritised £5 billion for the farming budget over the next two years. This includes the largest ever amount of funding directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history, and £60m to support farmers with the impacts of extreme wet weather.
At the Oxford Farming Conference in January 2025, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs set out the Government’s long-term vision to make farming more profitable and put more money in the pockets of British farmers. This includes a set of reforms such as using the Government’s purchasing power to buy British Food, planning reforms to speed up the delivery of farm buildings and other infrastructure which supports food production, and work to ensure supply chain fairness.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to prevent money laundering by foreign nationals.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to tackling illicit finance and economic crime. We have appointed an Anti-Corruption Champion Baroness Hodge to support the government's agenda in tackling corruption at home and overseas.
HM Treasury has been working with partners across the public and private sector to update our National Risk Assessment for money laundering and terrorist financing and to deliver Economic Crime Plan 2, the government’s public-private strategy to combat economic crime and strengthen the UK system. This includes work on HM Treasury-owned actions to reform our Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Terrorist Financing supervisory regime, and to improve the effectiveness of the Money Laundering Regulations.
HM Treasury is responsible for the UK’s money laundering regulations which require that banks and other financial services companies apply enhanced customer due diligence and enhanced ongoing monitoring in any business relationships with a person established in high-risk jurisdictions as determined by the Financial Action Task Force or in relation to any relevant transaction where either of the parties to the transaction is established in a high-risk jurisdiction.
HM Treasury is also supporting the development of a new Anti-Corruption Strategy to be published in 2025 which will include measures that address the UK’s vulnerabilities to corruption and money laundering.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will extend the 75% business rates relief for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses after 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026-27.
Ahead of these changes being made, the Government recognises that businesses will need support in 2025-26. As such, we have prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business, and we have frozen the small business multiplier.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential financial impact of VAT on private swimming schools.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for public services, and must represent value for money for the taxpayer.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government took a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability. This stability is critical to boosting investment and growth, and to making people across the UK better off.
One of the key considerations for any potential new VAT relief is whether the cost saving is likely to be passed on to consumers. Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increasing the rate of employer national insurance contributions on contractors working inside IR35 via an umbrella company.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Raising the revenue required to fix the public finances and restore economic stability requires difficult decisions on tax, which is why we are asking employers to contribute more.
A Tax Information and Impact Note was published alongside the legislation when it was introduced to Parliament.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to help support pubs in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Pubs make an enormous contribution to our economy and society, and this is recognised in the tax system.
At the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor cut alcohol duty on qualifying draught products – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. 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. This reduction increased the relief available on draught products to 13.9%.
The Chancellor also confirmed her intention to introduce permanently lower business rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs, from 2026-27, and in the interim extend the current RHL relief for 1-year at 40%, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.
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 introducing a higher tax threshold for pensioners.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The income tax Personal Allowance will continue to exceed the basic and full new State Pension in 2024-25. This means that pensioners whose sole income is the full new State Pension or basic State Pension without any increments will continue to not pay any income tax.