This was a amendment on the Finance (No. 2) Bill. The Finance (No. 2) Bill is a broad package of government finance and tax measures, including anti-avoidance reforms, new HMRC powers and penalties, rules affecting advisers and promoters, and various excise and tax changes. It has been heavily debated in Parliament, with Labour-led amendments aimed at tightening definitions and adding safeguards, while opponents sought to narrow or slow reforms. The bill has progressed through the Commons with changes and is now before the Lords for final consideration at its 3rd reading.
•Strengthened anti-avoidance regime and enforcement powers, including proposed new sanctions on advisers and the ability to publish penalties, designed to curb aggressive tax planning and promoter activity.
•Expanded liability and information-sharing rules, notably powers for HMRC to determine PAYE and measures extending joint/connected liability for promoters and introducers, subject to specific safeguards being debated in Committee.
•Focus on advisers and promoters: significant discussion around registering tax advisers, widening sanctionable-conduct rules, and balancing enforcement with protections such as reasonable-care defences, representation rights, and publication safeguards to avoid chilling legitimate professional advice.
•Policy tensions around tax/tobacco regimes and implementation: debates over vaping duties versus a proposed punitive tobacco duty increase, plus calls for robust enforcement against illegal tobacco and for inflation-linked uprating of certain charges, where applicable.
In the Commons, Amendment 6 to the Finance (No. 2) Bill was defeated at Report Stage, with 292 voting against and 175 for. The proposed changes would raise a threshold in Clause 13 from 250 to 500, remove a subsection, and a separate new clause would require HMRC to notify taxpayers affected by frozen thresholds. Two MPs voted against their party whip in this division.
Amendment aimed to raise a threshold from 250 to 500New clause would require notifying taxpayers affected by threshold freezesTwo MPs rebelled against their party whipAmendment defeated 292–175 in the Commons
AI-generated context — may contain errors.
Turnout by party
72%
Ulster Unionist Party
1/1 (100%)
Plaid Cymru
4/4 (100%)
Reform UK
8/8 (100%)
Traditional Unionist Voice
1/1 (100%)
Your Party
1/1 (100%)
Restore Britain
1/1 (100%)
Conservative
93/114 (82%)
Green Party
4/5 (80%)
What happens next?
The bill continues through its current stage with the amendment applied (or rejected).
