Written questions by Stephenson.

If she will make an estimate of the number of taxpayers set to pay the additional rate of income tax in financial year 2025-26 compared with financial year 2024-25.

The information requested on the impact on taxpayer numbers as a result of threshold freezes is published as part of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO). The published table sets out the estimated numbers of taxpayers with and without indexation of the thresholds and the impact of the thresholds being frozen. This information is updated in the EFO in each fiscal event. An excerpt from Table 3.18 from the October 2024 EFO: 3.18 Effect of threshold freezes on additional taxpayers Million Forecast 2023-242024-252025-26Number of taxpayers With indexation34.134.335.1Without indexation36.237.638.6…brought into income tax2.23.33.5Number of higher-rate taxpayers With indexation4.74.44.5Without indexation6.16.67.0…brought into higher-rate band1.42.22.5Number of additional-rate taxpayers Previous £150,000 threshold0.70.70.8Aligned to the end of PA taper0.91.11.2…brought into additional-rate band0.30.40.4…brought into higher and additional rates1.62.62.9 As shown in the table, 3.5 million more individuals are expected to pay income tax in 2025-26 as a result of the threshold freezes. The number of Higher rate taxpayers is expected to increase from 6.6 million in 2024-25 to 7.0 million in 2025-26 (a rise of 0.4 million), and additional rate taxpayer numbers are expected to increase from 1.1 million to 1.2 million (a rise of 0.1 million). The full table is available as Table 3.18 in the detailed forecast of receipts: October 2024 Economic and fiscal outlook – detailed forecast tables: receipts (obr.uk) The latest ONS estimate for median earnings for 2023-24 is £31,602, and this can be projected using OBR’s average earnings growth forecasts, which gives an estimate of median earnings for 2024-25 of £33,035 and 2025-26 of £34,011. An individual with solely income from these earnings would expect to have total Income Tax and Employee National Insurance liabilities of £5,730 in 2024-25 and £6,003 in 2025-26. Individuals aged 21 and over earning minimum wage and working 35 hours per week would be expected to earn £20,821 and £22,222 in tax years 2024-25 and 2025-26 respectively. These would result in Income Tax and Employee National Insurance liabilities of:£1,650 and £660 in 2024-25,£1,930 and £772 in 2025-26. Further information on the ONS data for median earnings can be found in their annual publication: 2024 provisional earnings and hours worked, all employees (ons.gov.uk) Earnings growth forecasts are published in the OBR’s forecast tables: October 2024 Detailed forecast tables: Economy (obr.uk)

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of wealthy taxpayers leaving the UK on levels of (a) economic growth and (b) tax receipts.

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. As part of this, the Government is increasing the main rates of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to 18 and 24 per cent, while ensuring the UK tax system remains internationally competitive. At the Budget, the Government also confirmed its plans to remove the outdated concept of domicile status from the tax system and to replace it with a new residence-based regime from 6 April 2025, which is internationally competitive and focused on attracting the best talent and investment to the UK. The OBR have certified that the package of non-dom reforms the Government is legislating will raise £33.8bn in total revenue over the five-year forecast period. These reforms will ensure that everyone who makes their home in the UK pays their taxes here. These and other decisions announced at the Budget will help repair the public finances and fund public services such as the NHS and education.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her economic policies at attracting people to list shares in London.

The UK has recently attracted several high-profile listings from firms taking advantage of our reforms to make it easier to raise capital and fund growth on UK markets. This includes IPOs from high-growth UK firms such as Raspberry Pi and Applied Nutrition, as well as listings from prominent international firms such as Canal+ and CK Infrastructure. More broadly, in 2024 more capital was raised on UK equity markets than the next three European exchanges combined.

What assessment her Department has made of the of the potential impact of (a) agricultural and (b) business property relief on ancient woodlands.

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, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected by these reforms. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

With reference to the press notice entitled Prime Minister unveils game changing investment to tackle national security threat from people smuggling gangs, published on 4 November 2024, whether the £75m funding anno

The Border Security Command is funded from within the Home Office’s Spending Review settlement, as announced at the Budget.

What assessment her Department has made of the impact of imposing VAT on private school fees on the UK’s global reputation.

On 30th October, at Budget, the Government confirmed that, as of 1 January 2025, all education, boarding, and vocational training provided for a charge by a private school in the UK will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. Internationa...

What assessment her Department has made of the impact of imposing VAT on private school fees on the UK’s relations with European and international allies.

On 30th October, at Budget, the Government confirmed that, as of 1 January 2025, all education, boarding, and vocational training provided for a charge by a private school in the UK will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. Internationa...

If she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies on National Insurance Contributions for employees of paragraph 4 of the report by the Office for Budget Responsibility entitled The economic effect

In the October 2021 Economic and Fiscal Outlook the OBR set out “a central forecast to 2026-27 taking account of recent data and Government policies announced up to and including the October 2021 Budget and Spending Review”. The Government does not specul...

What steps her Department is taking to help support small businesses to comply with the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax regulations.

HMRC have worked closely with stakeholders in the business and tax communities on the design and scope of MTD for Income Tax to make sure it is fit for purpose. This has led to practical design changes and improvements that will benefit users. HMRC is cur...

What recent estimate she has made of whether the rollout of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will be completed by April 2026.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) is an ambitious reform that will support modernisation of the tax system. The government is working collaboratively with HMRC and external stakeholders to bring the first businesses and landlords into MTD for Income Tax. Reflectin...