Written questions by MacDonald.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the merits of exempting tips paid by card from National Insurance contributions.

The method of payment of a tip does not determine whether National Insurance is due. National Insurance is not due on tips paid directly to the worker, or where the employer has no influence in the allocation of the tips. If an employer is involved in deciding how tips are shared out, then the payment may be liable for National Insurance. If it is not a voluntary payment, then National Insurance is due.

If her Department will make promoters of disguised remuneration schemes jointly liable for Loan Charge tax liabilities.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge. The review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer and the Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025. Alongside the review, on 30 October 2024, the Government announced further measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance. On 26 March 2025 a consultation document was published setting out proposals to tackle these promoters. The Government has also already announced measures to tackle the significant tax avoidance and fraud in the umbrella company market.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to business property relief on (a) plant hire companies and (b) the ability of those companies to help meet housebuilding targets.

The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms. It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR in 2026-27. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill. The Budget set out a series of new investments to kickstart the biggest increase to social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. This is an important step to providing the conditions needed for the market to deliver 1.5 million homes - homes that are desperately needed. To deliver on the commitment to get Britain building the government added £500 million to the Affordable Homes Programme in 2025-26, increasing it to £3.1 billion, the biggest annual budget for affordable housing in over a decade. This is part of over £5 billion total housing investment in 2025-26 to boost supply. This package helps provide certainty for investors ahead of the government’s long-term housing strategy which will be published alongside Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

Whether she has had discussions with the devolved Administrations on the adequacy of fiscal support for local councils across the UK, in the context of (a) recent trends in levels of demand for services, (b) the imp

Funding for local councils is a devolved responsibility and it is for the Devolved Governments to decide on their level of funding. I met with all Devolved Government Finance Ministers in Belfast on 3rd October at a meeting of the Finance: Interministeria...

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of rising transaction fees for non-European Economic Area cards on small businesses in (a) the Highlands and (b) other tourist areas; and whether

The Government is committed to promoting competition in the payments sector and recognises the importance of ensuring the fees charged for card payments are fair for all parties, including merchants. Card transaction fees are made up of different componen...

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of terminating the furnished holiday lettings tax regime on local (a) economies and (b) employment in tourist destinations.

The Government will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lets (FHLs) tax regime from April 2025, which will equalise the tax treatment of landlords’ property income and gains. The government wants to support visitor accommodation alongside housing for long term-...