Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value was of (a) Class 1 employee, (b) Class 1 employer, (c) Class 2 and (d) Class 4 self-employed National Insurance Contributions receipts in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Budget Responsibility publishes forecast levels of National Insurance receipts in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook report.
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: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance HM Revenue and Customs has issued on to the sale of Right to Buy properties.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC capital gains tax (CGT) guidance in connection with selling a home is available on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/tax-sell-home.
Self-assessment Helpsheets 281 and 283 also contain information about the amount of CGT private residence relief available when a person sells a property that has been their only or main residence at some time during their ownership, including how the relief applies to married couples and civil partnerships. These are available, respectively, at www.gov.uk/government/publications/husband-and-wife-civil-partners-divorce-dissolution-and-separation-hs281-self-assessment-helpsheet and www.gov.uk/government/publications/private-residence-relief-hs283-self-assessment-helpsheet.
More detailed information on CGT is available in HMRC’s Capital Gains Tax Manual at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual.
There are no separate CGT rules for properties acquired under the Right to Buy arrangements.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to review the (a) rate of and (b) threshold for Stamp Duty Land Tax in Northern Ireland in the context of trends in average house prices.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government keeps all tax policy under review and changes are announced at a fiscal event as part of the normal tax policy making process.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he (a) has had and (b) plans to have discussions with (i) Cabinet colleagues and (ii) relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of increasing the tax free childcare allowance.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury work closely with other Government departments and relevant stakeholders on all elements of childcare policy, including Tax-Free Childcare.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the next round of International Climate Finance from April 2026 has already been allocated under future spending plans.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The next round of International Climate Finance falls outside of this Spending Review period. Decisions on how spending is allocated after 2024-25, including for International Climate Finance, will be made at a future Spending Review.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of converting the childcare subsidy into an increased tax-free allowance.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government recognises the importance of supporting parents with the costs of childcare and does so through a range of childcare offers.
The Government keeps childcare policy under regular review.
Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has had discussions with the Bank of England on incorporating the impact of climate change in inflation modelling.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury meet with the Bank of England regularly to discuss their assessment of the economy, inflation and the impact of shocks and structural trends, including climate change.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the government’s official forecaster. They published their latest assessment of the economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) which includes inflation on 6th March. The Fiscal risks and sustainability report, published in July 2023, included discussion of the long-term impact of climate change on the fiscal position.
The Bank of England has operational independence over monetary policy and publishes its own forecasts, including for inflation, in its quarterly Monetary Policy Report.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to hold discussions with representatives of the main banks on the potential merits of agreeing a new banking framework with the Post Office for the period after 2025.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is supportive of industry initiatives that assist access to in-person banking. These include the Post Office Banking Framework, which allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.
Negotiations between the banking industry and the Post Office regarding any future Banking Framework are commercial discussions and the Government has no role.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of his Department’s (a) advertising and (b) marketing expenditure was on (i) local newspapers in print and online, (ii) national newspapers in print and online, (iii) social media, (iv) search engines, (v) broadcast and on-demand television and (vi) other channels in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMT’s expenditure on these related areas are all published in the public domain and can be found across the below links
a) https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gpc-spend
b) https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend
c) https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-annual-report