Guidance

Tax and National Insurance contributions — guidance for parliamentarians and ministers

Updated 18 June 2026

1. Personal Tax and National Insurance contributions enquiries

HMRC’s specialist Public Department 1 (PD1) deals with all your Personal Tax and National Insurance contributions enquiries.

As an elected member or someone working for a parliamentarian, your tax affairs are administered by our Public Department 1 (PD1).

Contacting the PD1 helpline

You should direct all queries about your own tax and anyone who works for you to PD1 rather than to other channels. This makes sure your query is handled by the right people first time, as other routes may not be able to help you which can cause delays.

If you’re an elected member

Elected members
Telephone: 03000 581 587
Find out about call charges

If you’re an elected member’s staff

Elected member’s staff
Telephone: 03000 534 720
Find out about call charges

2. Self Assessment and Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

Parliamentarians are required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026 if they meet the criteria and their qualifying income exceeds the relevant threshold.

Find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

Parliamentarians who are required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax cannot:

• send paper tax returns
• send their return using HMRC’s submission service

Signing up

Taxpayers need to sign-up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (or be signed up by their agent). This is a simple administrative step that takes about 5 minutes, you can either:

• sign up for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
• sign up your client for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

Using Making Tax Digital for Income Tax means the parliamentarian or their agent, will need to use commercial software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax to:

• create, store, and correct digital records of their self-employment and property income and expenses
• send quarterly updates to HMRC
• submit the tax return by 31 January of the following year (including the SA102 supplementary page)

Parliamentarians who need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will use the general employment supplementary page (SA102).

Income thresholds for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

You can find changes to the qualifying Making Tax Digital for Income Tax thresholds.

Exemptions from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

You can find more information on Making Tax Digital for Income Tax exemptions and applying for an exemption.

Applications for exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will be processed by the tax department that manages parliamentarians’ tax affairs at HMRC — Public Department 1 (PD1).

Political party fees

Political party fees are not deductible on your Self Assessment return, as they are not paid in the performance of your duties as a parliamentarian.

3. Implications for MPs and Members of the House of Lords of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010

This section is for MPs and Members of the House of Lords only.

Part 4 of the CRGA 2010 provides that any individual who is, at any point during a tax year, a Member of Parliament, or a Member of the House of Lords, is deemed to be both:

• resident in the UK for the entire tax year for the purposes of Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax
• a long-term UK resident for the purposes of Inheritance Tax

How is residence determined for an MP or Member of the Lords

Under UK domestic tax law, residence is normally determined by the Statutory Residence Test (Schedule 45, Finance Act 2013). However, Part 4 of CRGA 2010 overrides this test for MPs and Members of the House of Lords, meaning you are treated as a UK resident regardless of your circumstances by virtue of being an MP or Member of the House of Lords.

What happens if you are both resident in the UK and another country for tax purposes

If you are also tax resident in another country, you will be dual resident — that is, resident for tax purposes in more than one jurisdiction at the same time.

In these circumstances the UK uses its network of Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs). DTAs typically include a ‘tiebreaker’ test to determine which country has taxing rights over income, gains, or assets subject to Inheritance Tax and determines which country should provide any tax relief due.

Check if you qualify for relief under the Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime

From 6 April 2025, individuals can no longer use the remittance basis, where foreign income and gains are only taxed if they are remitted to the UK. All individuals are now taxed on the arising basis. The new FIG regime provides relief for eligible individuals who are qualifying new residents.

However, section 845B Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 means Members of the House of Commons or House of Lords for any part of a tax year do not qualify for relief under the FIG regime.

Key considerations

The key considerations are:

• the impact of CRGA 2010 on your residence status for earlier tax years
• that this could impact your eligibility for the FIG regime even after you cease to be a Member of either House

Guidance can be found in HMRC’s Residence and FIG Regime Manual (RFIG) — RFIG44000.

The rules before 6 April 2025

Before 6 April 2025, Part 4 CRGA 2010 deemed an individual to be domiciled in the United Kingdom, as well as UK resident, for the purposes of Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax.

This meant non-UK domiciled individuals were unable to use the remittance basis in respect of any year in which they were an MP or a Member of the House of Lords — even if for only part of the year.