Every parliamentary written question tabled by Freddie van Mierlo this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 38 · Treasury
Pursuant to Question 7286 answered on 15 June 2026, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the metric used to assess the £450,000 Lifetime Isa limit for first time buyers; and whether she has made an estimate of the number of first time buyers leaving areas of high house prices to buy property.
Awaiting answer.
With reference to the impact of additional business rate reliefs from South Oxfordshire District Council, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding further reliefs to business rates nationally,
At the Budget, the VO announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. In recognition of the impact of the revalua...
Whether she has considered the potential merits of introducing additional business rate reliefs.
At the Budget, the VO announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. In recognition of the impact of the revalua...
What assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the Lifetime ISA £450,000 cap, especially for areas where affordable housing is more expensive, such as Henley and Thame.
Data from the latest UK House Price Index shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by bor...
What assessment her Department has made of the impact of the Lifetime ISA £450,000 cap on first time buyers in areas with high land prices, such as Henley and Thame constituency.
Data from the latest UK House Price Index shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by bor...
Pursuant to the Answer of 1 June 2026 to Question 3176 on Housing: Oxfordshire, whether her Department has had discussions with (a) the Environment Agency and (b) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affai
HM Treasury officials regularly engage with other departments, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on a range of policy issues, including those related to wastewater infrastructure and housing development.Responsibility for t...
Whether she has had discussions with the Environment Agency on their decision to remove opposition to new housing developments that would be connected to the Oxford Sewage treatment works in Oxfordshire.
The Environment Agency is an operationally independent regulator sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Chancellor has not had discussions with the Environment Agency on this decision.
What steps she is taking to help ensure that individuals and businesses contacting HMRC by telephone receive a good standard of customer service.
Improving the customer experience and day-to-day performance is a key priority for HMRC. HMRC’s helpline service has improved, but waiting times can be longer than usual during busy periods. HMRC continue to invest in new technology to improve their telep...
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of consumer protection and reimbursement for victims of authorised push payment and investment frauds that occurred before 7 October 2024.
Awaiting answer.
When HMRC plans to move from Government Gateway to One Login.
HMRC detailed its ambitions for moving to GOV.UK One Login in its Transformation Roadmap which was published in July 2025. This can be found here: HMRC's Transformation Roadmap - GOV.UK HMRC entered public beta testing for new individual customers (those without a Government Gateway account) in February 2026 and controlled numbers of new users can now sign up to access HMRC digital services through GOV.UK One Login. This public beta is scheduled to run until June 2026, prior to a full go-live for new individual customers later this year. This will be followed by existing individuals (those with a Government Gateway account) and agents and organisations, as set out in the Transformation Roadmap.
What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of setting a maximum settlement reduction of £70,000 under the revised loan charge settlement arrangements.
The Government commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to bring the matter to a close for those affected, ensure fairness for all taxpayers and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the loan charge. Because of the decisions the Government has taken, around 30 percent of people within scope of the review could have their liabilities removed entirely. Most other individuals will see their liabilities reduced by at least half. The most serious cases within scope of the Loan Charge review include instances where an individual has avoided more than £5 million of tax through disguised remuneration use. The Government does not believe it is right to offer this group further substantial reductions to their liabilities. The £70,000 cap was introduced to ensure fairness for all taxpayers, including the vast majority who have never used disguised remuneration schemes. Over 80% of individuals that are within scope of the settlement opportunity will not be affected by the cap.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of legal sale mileage blockers on the proposed pence-per-mile charge of 3p per mile in addition to the standard Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) starting in April 2028.
As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028, a new mileage charge for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, recognising that electric vehicles (EVs) contribute to congestion and wear and tear on the roads but pay no equivalent to fuel duty. The Government is considering options to mitigate against odometer tampering, including whether any legislative, regulatory or technical changes are necessary to strengthen compliance and enforcement. The Government intends to engage with manufacturers, the leasing industry and insurers to minimise fraud. The eVED consultation provides further detail on how eVED will work and seeks views on its implementation, including the approach to compliance. The consultation is available at GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-introduction-of-electric-vehicle-excise-duty-eved.
What assessment she has made of the potential merits of delaying business rates revaluations for hospitality businesses.
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the Rateable Value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency, and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base. The next revaluation will take effect from 1 April 2026 based on values from 1 April 2024.
What steps she is taking to improve decision making times at the Valuation Office Agency.
The VOA is meeting the majority of its performance targets. In the areas where it isn’t, it has robust service recovery plans in place. These include moving staff to where there is the greatest customer demand and upskilling its workforce in a wider range of casework, to ensure greater flexibility. It continues to prioritise any cases where a customer is facing financial hardship. The VOA reports monthly on performance to the HMRC Executive Committee and Board. The decision to move the VOA’s functions into HMRC next year will strengthen direct accountability to ministers. Integration is being carefully managed by a joint HMRC and VOA team, with detailed transition plans in place and appropriate oversight from my department.
What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on reforms to the tax and benefits system for young people in supported accommodation.
The Chancellor regularly engages with Cabinet colleagues across a wide range of policy issues including tax and welfare.
What assessment she has made of the potential merits of raising the VAT registration threshold from £90,000; and whether she plans to conduct a review of the impact of current thresholds on SMEs.
With a VAT registration threshold of £90,000, the UK’s threshold is higher than any EU country and the joint highest in the OECD. This means the majority of UK businesses are kept out of the VAT system. The Government’s approach to the VAT threshold aims to balance potential impacts on small businesses, including their growth and financial sustainability, the economy as a whole, and tax revenues. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer.
What (a) guidance, (b) funding, (c) accounting assistance and (d) other support her Department is providing to small businesses that become VAT-registered.
HMRC provides extensive guidance on GOV.UK to support VAT registered businesses including essentials that every business needs, up to more complex areas. Additional individual support is available from their helplines. HMRC has published an online VAT Registration Estimator for businesses approaching VAT registration. This helps them understand their basic obligations, work out what their liability may be should they need to register, and provides links to relevant guidance. There are schemes available to small businesses to support their cash flow and simplify the requirements for accounting for VAT. This includes the annual accounting scheme and cash accounting scheme, available for businesses with a turnover up to £1.6m. The Flat Rate Scheme is also available for those with a turnover up to £230k. This simplifies the calculation of VAT liability by applying a sector-specific percentage to sales, rather than recording VAT on each transaction.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of keeping the personal allowance at £12,570 on pensioners’ tax liability.
The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently projected to go up by around £1,900 based on the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest forecast. The Personal Allowance - the amount an individual can earn before paying tax - will continue to exceed the basic and full new State Pension in 2025/26. This means pensioners whose sole income is the full new State Pension or basic State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax.
If she will hold discussions with HMRC on the difference between the loan charge settlement terms offered to (a) large companies and (b) other people.
The Government commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025. HMRC applies the law fairly and consistently in accordance with its published Litigation and Settlement Strategy (LSS). This ensures every taxpayer, no matter who they are, pays the tax due under the law. Central to the LSS is that HMRC will not settle a dispute by agreement for an amount which is less than it would reasonably expect to obtain from litigation. HMRC’s Litigation and Settlement strategy can be found on gov.uk: www.gov.uk/government/publications/litigation-and-settlement-strategy-lss
What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the tax-free childcare system on levels of administration for early years providers.
HMRC continually assesses the administrative impact of Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) on childcare providers, including those focused on early years provision, via customer feedback and internal system reviews. For many providers, once they have registered for TFC they will receive TFC payments made by parents directly into their bank account, just as they would when receiving non-TFC payments. In 2024, HMRC improved the administration for childcare providers by streamlining the TFC registration process and introducing a mechanism for TFC payments to be made via external payment providers used by some childcare providers. These changes are designed to improve the registration and payment functions of TFC, making the service more user friendly, efficient and accessible.