Autumn Budget 2026 (No. 2)

Summary

That this House notes that the UK spends 7.31% of GDP, costing £217.5 billion per annum, on tax reliefs, equivalent to about 23% of Government tax revenue, and that the Treasury Select Committee identified in 2023 that 815 of 1,180 tax reliefs have never been publicly costed; further notes the Institute for Government found that the Government introduced 14 major tax policies targeted at and for the benefit of high wealth or high income individuals in 2015-2023, that just three had been substantiated on a significant evidential basis, and that a 2024 National Audit Office report observed a concerning absence of evaluation of tax reliefs; also notes that many tax reliefs have substantially contradicted the declared purpose of Government policy, such as small business rate relief available for holiday lets, and which has seen industrial-level flipping of second homes from Council Tax to the business rate systems where the majority pay no tax at all; notes that along with other reliefs, and covid aid, this has resulted in granting over £500 million of taxpayers’ money to support holiday home owners in Cornwall alone in the last 10 years, while thousands of local families have been evicted to make way for more holiday and second home investors and the local authority now needs to cut essential services to balance the book; and calls on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to consider these factors as he prepares for the Budget and to undertake a Comprehensive Spending Review-style of the entire tax code.

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Timeline

1. 12 October 2026

   Early Day Motion

   That this House notes that the UK spends 7.31% of GDP, costing £217.5 billion per annum, on tax reliefs, equivalent to about 23% of Government tax revenue, and that the Treasury Select Committee identified in 2023 that 815 of 1,180 tax reliefs have never been publicly costed; further notes the Institute for Government found that the Government introduced 14 major tax policies targeted at and for the benefit of high wealth or high income individuals in 2015-2023, that just three had been substantiated on a significant evidential basis, and that a 2024 National Audit Office report observed a concerning absence of evaluation of tax reliefs; also notes that many tax reliefs have substantially contradicted the declared purpose of Government policy, such as small business rate relief available for holiday lets, and which has seen industrial-level flipping of second homes from Council Tax to the business rate systems where the majority pay no tax at all; notes that along with other reliefs, and covid aid, this has resulted in granting over £500 million of taxpayers’ money to support holiday home owners in Cornwall alone in the last 10 years, while thousands of local families have been evicted to make way for more holiday and second home investors and the local authority now needs to cut essential services to balance the book; and calls on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to consider these factors as he prepares for the Budget and to undertake a Comprehensive Spending Review-style of the entire tax code.

   Source: Early Day Motion

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Sponsors

• Andrew George · Liberal Democrat · Primary sponsor

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