Treasury written question – answered at on 26 June 2025.
Helen Grant
Shadow Solicitor General
To ask the Chancellor of the exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the taxable turnover SMEs can earn in a12-month period before registering for VAT.
James Murray
The Exchequer Secretary
At £90,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU country and the joint highest in the OECD. This keeps the Majority of businesses out of the VAT regime altogether.
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The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.