Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Reducing Taxes

Tuesday 19 December 2023 · 7 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 6 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Wendy Morton asked about steps to reduce taxes, and the response cited the autumn statement as delivering the biggest package of tax cuts since 1988.
  • Louie French welcomed the recent tax cuts and mentioned concerns about 28 billion-a-year unfunded spend, to which the response highlighted that additional borrowing drives up interest rates, affecting families with mortgages.
  • Valerie Vaz inquired about the forecasted tax burden at the end of the Parliament, and the Chancellor confirmed it would be lower than initially expected, contrasting it with the situation under a Labour Government.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Wendy Morton Con Aldridge-Brownhills
Taxation
Context

The MP inquires about government actions to reduce taxes following previous decisions and statements.

Question

What steps his Department is taking to reduce taxes. Thanks to the difficult decisions the Government have taken on inflation and debt, the autumn statement this year was able to deliver the biggest package of tax cuts to be scored since 1988.

Answer from Jeremy Hunt

Thanks to the difficult decisions the Government have taken on inflation and debt, the autumn statement this year was able to deliver the biggest package of tax cuts to be scored since 1988.

Answered

Not addressed: null

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Q2 Louie French Con Old Bexley and Sidcup
Taxation
Context

The MP welcomes tax cuts but expresses concern about potential spending commitments leading to higher taxes if Labour were in power.

Question

I very much welcome the tax cuts recently announced by the Chancellor and hope to see more announced soon, especially a rise in the higher rate threshold. As the Conservatives look to reduce the tax burden on working people, does the Chancellor share my concern that £28 billion-a-year unfunded spending commitments would likely see taxes rise and lead to higher interest rates if Labour were ever in government?

Answer from Jeremy Hunt

It is not just me but Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies who, when talking about Labour's plan, has said that “additional borrowing…drives up interest rates”, which is, of course, a back-door tax rise on families with mortgages.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Chancellor did not directly address the specific concern about £28 billion-a-year unfunded spending commitments but discussed broader fiscal impacts.

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Q3 Caroline Ansell Con
Taxation Benefits & Welfare Children & Families
Context

The MP appreciates the funding for childcare but notes that tax burden on single-earner households limits choices.

Question

Record funding is going in to support the cost of childcare, to allow more parents to stay in the workforce. This is very welcome, but the tax burden on single-earner households puts the choice to be a stay-at-home parent beyond the reach of too many. Raising the youngest generation must count as a top investment, so may I ask my right hon. Friend the Chancellor what recent analysis has been undertaken on the transferable allowance? At up to £252 per annum, it is currently not designed to facilitate that choice.

Answer from Jeremy Hunt

I thank my hon. Friend for her question. As she knows, the marriage allowance is currently £1,260 per year, and it has been fixed at 10% of the personal allowance since it was introduced in 2015. On this side of the House, we believe it should be a woman's choice, and we want to make that choice as real as possible for every family. For that reason, we think the best thing we can do is to bring down the taxes paid by working people to put more money into the family budget.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Chancellor did not provide recent analysis on the transferable allowance but discussed broader policy goals and taxation reductions.

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Q4 Wendy Morton Con Aldridge-Brownhills
Taxation Business & Trade
Context

The MP supports Small Business Saturday and inquires about additional measures to support all businesses.

Question

Like many of us in this place, I am a big supporter of Small Business Saturday, and it is important to remember that small businesses are the backbone of local communities all year round. Many are unlikely to be able to take advantage of the Chancellor's very generous and welcome expensing package, so what additional measures will he continue to consider to support all businesses great and small, including perhaps even corporation tax reductions?

Answer from Jeremy Hunt

I thank my right hon. Friend for her question. She will know that 70% of trading businesses only pay the lower corporation tax rate of 19%. That covers the vast majority of small businesses. I used to run my own business; I ran it for 14 years before I came into Parliament. I could not agree with her more: small businesses are the backbone of the British economy, which is why we are tackling the scourge of low payments and we rolled over the 75% discount on retail, hospitality and leisure business rates in the autumn statement.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Chancellor did not commit to specific additional measures but highlighted existing support for small businesses.

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Q5 Valerie Vaz Lab Walsall and Bloxwich
Taxation
Context

The MP inquires about the projected change in tax burden over this Parliament compared to its start.

Question

Will the Chancellor confirm how much higher the tax burden is forecast to be at the end, compared with at the start, of this Parliament?

Answer from Jeremy Hunt

What I can confirm is that, as a result of the measures I took in the autumn statement, it will be lower at the end of the scorecard period than it would otherwise have been, and a lot lower than it would be under any Labour Government.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Chancellor did not provide specific figures on how much higher or lower taxes would be but discussed comparative scenarios with other parties.

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Q6 Derek Twigg Lab Widnes and Halewood
Economy
Context

The MP inquires about the number of middle-income taxpayers who have been paying the higher rate of tax since 2019.

Question

May I ask the Chancellor how many middle-income taxpayers have been paying the higher rate of tax since 2019?

Answer from Jeremy Hunt

I am happy to write to the hon. Gentleman with the exact numbers, but for people on low incomes—people being paid the lowest legally payable wage—their post-tax real income has gone up by 30% since 2010, because the Conservative party believes in making work pay.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Chancellor did not provide specific numbers requested but discussed broader policy impacts on low-income earners.

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Q7 Patrick Grady SNP
Economy Taxation
Context

The MP questions the rationale behind cutting national insurance while not returning the overseas aid budget to 0.7% of GNI.

Question

Why is the fiscal situation strong enough to cut national insurance, but not strong enough to return the overseas aid budget to 0.7% of GNI?

Answer from Jeremy Hunt

Because the way we return the overseas aid budget to 0.7% is to grow the economy. By cutting national insurance, we put nearly 100,000 more people into the national workforce, filling nearly one in 10 vacancies in companies up and down the country.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Chancellor did not directly address why it is not feasible to return the overseas aid budget but discussed economic growth and job creation from cutting national insurance.

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