Official Statistics

Quality report: HM Revenue and Customs receipts

Updated 21 August 2024

Contact

Organisation unit: Knowledge, Analysis, and Intelligence (KAI)

Name: K Mason, L Suckling

Function: Statistics Producers, Cross Cutting Statistics

Introduction

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards by emailing [email protected].

Alternatively, you can email the OSR or via the OSR website.

This background report relates to the National Statistic (NS) publication, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Receipts and National Insurance contributions (NICs) for the UK and provides users with information about the quality of the outputs as set out by the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

National Statistics are accredited official statistics.

The HMRC Receipts and NICs for the UK statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in June 2013. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

This publication is released monthly and provides an overview of all tax, duties, NICs, fines and penalties, and expenditure that HMRC are responsible for collecting and administering.

Receipts are on a cash basis which represents when HMRC receives a payment for a taxable event. The data is released monthly and annually covering the whole of the UK unless stated otherwise.

Annual data is available from the tax year 2003 to 2004, and monthly data is available from April 2008.

This background note includes a list of the corresponding Office for National Statistics (ONS) identifier code, where available, for the receipts and expenditure included in the table (see annex A).

Relevance

This section covers the degree to which the statistical product meets user needs in both coverage and content.

HMRC ran a survey and the results showed that this publication is regularly used with nearly 20% of customers using the statistics more than once a month.

The information is largely used for media commentary, and policy development and research, with interest across the majority of taxes.

Accuracy and reliability

This section covers the methodology, and the proximity between an estimate and the unknown true value.

HMRC accounting systems are the source for the monthly cash-based accounts (Trust Statement (TS)), which records when taxes and duties are received at HMRC and forms the basis of these statistics.

The monthly receipts data is subject to revision and aligned to the cash-based accounts following the publication of the Annual Reports and Accounts (ARA) are published.

The ARA includes the TS but on an accrual basis and so represents when a taxable event occurred (rather than when the tax is paid). These accounts are in accordance with standards specified by the National Audit Office.

Differences exist between these publications for the reasons as described above, but also because the TS may include adjustments to taxes and duties in the current year, but which relate to previous years (revisions are not made to historic TS accounts).

Please note that annual VAT receipts for 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024 have not been aligned to HMRC’s Cash Based Trust Statement while ongoing assurance is performed. We will provide an update once investigations are complete.

The monthly receipts data also form the basis of the Public Sector Finances Release (PSF) which is published jointly by HM Treasury (HMT) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The data in the PSF release is on a National Accounts Basis (NABs) and to ensure that receipts are in line with the definitions of the European System of Accounts 2010, adjustments in this publication are made to the following taxes:

• NICs - adjustments are made to include estimates for statutory maternity/paternity pay recoveries as well as receipts administered by the NICs Office

• Corporation tax - adjustments are made to include estimates for company tax credits, and due to the lag in return data becoming available, receipts are liable to revision and the latest tax year for which we have complete data is 2020 to 2021

In the PSF release the cash data are time-adjusted to represent when the taxable event occurred and is consistent with the National Accounts statistical framework. The table PSA6D contains NABs data and table PSA7D contains data on a cash basis (representing when they are received at HMRC).

Please note that the cash data in PSA7D for Income Tax also includes Capital Gains Tax, and the Corporation Tax figure also includes Bank Surcharge and Diverted Profits Tax. For further information on the PSF release, please contact [email protected].

The figures presented in this release may be subject to minor unscheduled revisions. Due to the complexity in compiling these statistics, on occasions, where revisions do not materially affect the figures, HMRC may not correct minor errors immediately. HMRC will make a judgement as to when to make minor corrections where the improvement to quality is negligible.

Where revisions are deemed to be material, HMRC will make information about arrangements for revision in a prompt, transparent and open manner. This approach is consistent with the code of practice for Statistics.

Timeliness and punctuality

This section on timeliness refers to the time gap between publication and the reference period. Punctuality refers to the gap between planned and actual publication dates.

We are committed to continuously improving the statistics we publish.

Our quality assurance processes are regularly reviewed to maintain and where possible, improve safeguards and to minimise the risk of error by including systematic automated checks, the use of a quality assurance review checklist, and a sign off process in the production of these statistics. These measures enhance the level of assurance and provide a clear audit trail.

As part of quality assurance process to highlight any revisions since the previous month’s publication, checks are made against the data reported to HMT and the ONS. Further to this, each section is scrutinised by analytical staff working on each tax or tax credits area. The publication is also peer reviewed by different team members and overseen by the team’s senior statistician.

To allow sufficient time to complete data processing, analysis and full quality assurance checks of these statistics, they are published monthly at 0700 on the 15th working day after the data starts to become available on HMRC accounting systems and so are published in a timely manner.

This publication is at 7:00am on the same day of the month as the PSF statistics, published by ONS. This is to improve the orderliness of release across government and enable users to gain a full insight of related statistics.

In line with the NS Code of Practice, these statistics are pre-announced on GOV.UK on the statistics release calendar.

HMRC also publishes an annual publication plan on the announcements page on GOV.UK. As part of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, any changes to the schedule will be stated and detailed on this page.

Accessibility and clarity

This section on accessibility, is the ease with which users are able to access the data, also reflecting the format in which the data are available and the availability of supporting information. Clarity refers to the quality and sufficiency of the metadata, illustrations and accompanying advice.

These statistics can be found in the tax receipts and taxpayers section on the HMRC statistics page on GOV.UK. There is a monthly and an annual release, both of which are available in line with accessibility requirements.

The monthly release consists of two documents:

• a monthly bulletin published in accessible HTML format and includes an overview of receipts and expenditure administered by HMRC, as well as analysis on receipts for some of the larger taxes and links to the relevant statistics section on GOV.UK to provide the user with more detailed information on a particular tax if required

• an accessible open document spreadsheet which contains a full dataset of receipts and expenditure data and (for the larger taxes) annual receipts as a percentage of total annual tax revenue

Coherence and comparability

This section on coherence is the degree to which data that are derived from different sources or methods, but refer to the same topic, are similar. Comparability is the degree to which data can be compared over time and domain.

The data source for all the data in these statistics are the HMRC accounting systems.

Annual receipts data in this publication are available from the tax year 2003 to 2004. Monthly receipts data are available from April 2008.

Receipts data going back further to the tax year 1908 to 1909 is available in The National Archives.

In June 2023, we aligned historical offshore CT receipts to UK oil and gas companies’ main instalment months (July, October and January). From April 2015, where the data is readily available, the receipts reporting pattern is now aligned to these peak instalment months.

Trade-offs between output quality components

This section on trade-offs are the extent to which different aspects of quality are balanced against each other.

Throughout the year, the monthly TS accounts form the basis of our published data and so are considered reliable and accurate. The monthly data remain as provisional until the publication of the ARA to which these statistics are aligned.

Assessment of user needs and perceptions

This section covers the processes for finding out about users and uses, and their views on the statistical products.

Contact details for the team are available in the bulletin in case users wish to provide either feedback, comments or queries on our National Statistics table.

Customers can also provide feedback directly to the contact detailed in the bulletin, via the contact us section on the HMRC statistics page.

Performance, cost and respondent burden

This section covers the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of the statistical output.

These statistics form the basis of the PSF NABs publication and as part of that, data extraction and processing and the quality assurance involved in producing these statistics is already undertaken.

There is minimal cost to producing these statistics.

Confidentiality, transparency and security

This section covers the procedures and policy used to ensure sound confidentiality, security and transparent practices.

The receipts and expenditure data in this publication are aggregated and therefore not disclosive.

Our confidentiality and access policy and pre-release policy are both available along with a list of those who have pre-release access to this publication.

Other useful websites

The Office for Budget Responsibility(OBR) was created in 2010 to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances. It is one of a growing number of official independent fiscal watchdogs around the world.

They produce and publish a medium term forecast for the UK economy and public finances and an assessment of whether the government is likely to achieve its fiscal targets, as announced in budget statements by the chancellor.

Useful links

All statistics on taxes and expenditure administered by HMRC are available on the Statistics home page on GOV.UK.

GOV.UK includes all publications by HMRC as well as other government bodies.

Full coverage of all central government tax receipts (including business rates, Vehicle Excise Duty and Television licence) is available in the Public Sector Finance Table PSA6D published by the ONS.

A full set of economic accounts (national accounts) for the UK are available in the Blue Book, compiled by the ONS.

Data on NICs paid by employers and employees is published by the OBR in table 2.4.

Our publications are mainly used for media commentary, policy development and research. The last survey completed on our publication is available on GOV.UK.

Older versions of all HMRC statistical publications are available in The National Archives.

Annex A. This list shows the corresponding Office for National Statistics (ONS) identifier codes, where available, for the receipts and expenditure included in our NS Table. This will be reviewed and updated periodically.

Revenue / Expenditure	Cash ONS Code
Total Paid Over	MIZX
Total HMRC Receipts	Not available
Income Tax	RURC
Pay As You Earn Income Tax	BKMR
Self-Assessment Income Tax	LISB
Capital Gains Tax	MS62
Apprenticeship Levy	CRSM
National Insurance contributions	ABLP
PAYE NIC1 (Employer)	Not available
PAYE NIC1 (Employee)	Not available
SA NIC2&4	Not available
Value Added Tax	EYOO
Corporation Tax	N445
Offshore Corporation Tax	CPSB
Bank Levy	KIH4
Bank Surcharge	H2AE
Diverted Profits Tax	H43Z
Digital Services Tax	FSO5
Residential Property Developer Tax	KYFM
Energy Profits Levy	JIS5
Electricity Generator Levy	JJ73
Economic Crime Levy	KYFQ
Bank payroll tax	JT2R
Petroleum Revenue Tax	ACCJ
Hydrocarbon Oil (Fuel duties)	ACDD
Inheritance Tax	ACCH
Stamp Duty Shares	BKST
Stamp Duty Land Tax	BKSU
Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings	N3RL
Tobacco Duties	ACDE
Spirits Duties	ACDF
Beer Duties	ACDG
Wines Duties	ACDH
Cider Duties	ACDI
Betting & Gaming	ACDJ
Air Passenger Duty	ACDP
Insurance Premium Tax	ACDO
Landfill Tax	N3RW
Climate Change Levy	LSNS
Aggregates Levy	MDUP
Soft Drinks Industry Levy	CT9V
Plastic Packaging Tax	KTFI
Swiss Capital Tax	KW68
Miscellaneous	Not available
Customs Duties	ADET
Penalties	Not available
Child and Working Tax Credits	Not available
Corporation Tax Credits	JPPT
Child Benefit Payments	Not available
Tax-Free Child Care	Not available
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme	FSX8
Self-Employment Income Support Scheme	FT7C
Eat Out To Help Out Scheme	FUP8