Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the number of small businesses in (a) the UK and (b) Buckingham and Bletchley constituency that operate below the VAT registration threshold.

a) The total number of businesses in 2024 is estimated at 5.6 million (see Business population estimates 2024 - GOV.UK, detailed table 2). According to HMRC statistics, there were around 1.3 million business registered for VAT with turnover above the threshold in 2023-34 (see Value Added Tax (VAT) annual statistics - GOV.UK, Table T5). Thus the number of businesses with turnover below the threshold would be approximately the remainder of the 5.6 million, or 4.3 million. It should be noted that some businesses with turnover below the threshold are voluntarily registered for VAT; there were around 0.9 million such businesses in 2023-24.

b) No estimate has been made of the number of small businesses operating below the VAT registration threshold at the constituency level. Any estimate would be above cost grounds.