National statistics

Environmental Taxes Bulletin background and references

Published 30 June 2021

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/environmental-taxes-bulletin/environmental-taxes-bulletin-background-and-references

Overview

The Environmental Taxes Bulletin National Statistics presents statistics on Climate Change Levy (CCL) and Carbon Price Floor (CPF), Aggregates Levy (AGL), and Landfill Tax (LFT) administered by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

This bulletin was first published in June 2021 and will be updated annually. The content was previously published in three separate bulletins, and was created following a consultation on the reduction and consolidation of HMRC statistics publications.

The bulletin contains statistics on receipts up to the latest full month before its release, and statistics relating to declarations that are one month behind that of receipts.

The Environmental Taxes Bulletin is updated annually. It includes statistics on receipts up to the latest full month before its release, and statistics relating to clearances that are one month behind that of receipts.

Information on previous publications can be found on the bulletin pages for the individual taxes:

Environmental taxes

Climate Change Levy

CCL is chargeable on the industrial and commercial supply of taxable commodities for lighting, heating and power by consumers in the following sectors:

  • industry
  • commerce
  • agriculture
  • public administration
  • other services

CCL does not apply to taxable commodities used by domestic consumers or charities for non-business use.

CCL is charged on taxable supplies. Taxable supplies are certain supplies of the following taxable commodities:

  1. electricity
  2. natural gas as supplied by a gas utility
  3. petroleum and hydrocarbon gas in a liquid state
  4. coal and lignite
  5. coke and semi coke of coal or lignite
  6. petroleum coke

The following are not taxable commodities for CCL purposes:

  1. oil
  2. road fuel gas
  3. heat
  4. steam
  5. waste as defined in statute

CCL was announced during the UK government’s 1999 Budget and introduced from April 2001. CCL rates were frozen until April 2007, since when rates have changed each April. The exceptions being 2010 when no rate changes were made and November 2013 when the rate for gas in Northern Ireland was increased to the same rate as the rest of the UK.

Go to Climate Change Levy rates guidance for the latest CCL rates. Historic rates are also available alongside the main bulletin.

Energy intensive businesses who have entered into a Climate Change Agreement (CCA) are entitled to pay a reduced rate of CCL in return for meeting emissions reductions or energy efficiency targets.

Since 1 August 2015, electricity generated from renewable sources is no longer eligible to receive Levy Exemption Certificates (LEC). Following the removal of LECs, there was a transitional period for taxpayers until 31 March 2018. Impacts from this change have been captured within electricity declarations from traders since around June 2019.

Go to Exemptions from Climate Change Levy for more details about CCL exemptions and reliefs.

Also go to Business tax Climate Change Levy for detailed CCL information.

Carbon Price Floor

CPF was announced during the UK government’s 2011 Budget and introduced from 1 April 2013. CPF is a tax on fossil fuels used in the generation of electricity. It was achieved through changes to the existing CCL regime for gas, solid fuels and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used for electricity generation. These changes included the introduction of new carbon price support (CPS) rates of CCL.

Go to Excise Notice CCL1/6: a guide to carbon price floor for detailed CPF information.

Landfill Tax

LFT is a tax paid by landfill operators on the disposal of material at a landfill site. The tax is passed onto businesses and local authorities through the gate fee for disposing of waste at a landfill.

The tax aims to incentivise the diversion of waste from landfill to other less harmful methods of waste management such as recycling and incineration.

Landfill Tax currently applies only in England and Northern Ireland, having been devolved to Scotland and Wales - see below for further details.

Landfill tax applies to all material disposed of by way of landfill, either at an authorised site (from 1 October 1996), or at any site whether authorised or unauthorised (from 1 April 2018), unless the material is specifically exempt. This also applies to unauthorised disposals made prior to 1 April 2018, which are still on site on 1 April 2018.

The tax is charged by weight. There are two rates; standard rate and lower rate.

  • lower rate applies to non-hazardous and less polluting materials
  • standard rate applies to all other taxable materials including all disposals at an unauthorised site

With effect from 1 April 2021, the following rates apply:

  • lower rate: £3.10 per tonne
  • standard rate: £96.70 per tonne

Exemptions exist for dredging, mining and quarrying waste, pet cemeteries, filling of quarries and waste from visiting forces.

From 1 April 2018 the scope of Landfill Tax in England and Northern Ireland was extended to sites operating without the appropriate environmental disposal permit and changes were introduced to bring clarity to what material is taxable at sites whether or not they hold a permit.

At sites without a permit, the person disposing of the waste and anyone who knowingly facilitates the disposal may be liable for the tax. At sites with a permit, all material disposed of will be taxable unless expressly excluded.

Click here for more detailed information on LFT.

Aggregates Levy

AGL is a tax on the commercial exploitation in the UK of rock, sand and gravel, and is due from any business that quarries, dredges or imports these products.

The levy came into effect on 1 April 2002, and was introduced to address the environmental costs associated with quarrying that were not already covered by regulation, including noise, dust, visual intrusion, loss of amenity and damage to biodiversity.

The levy aims to bring about environmental benefits by making the price of aggregates better reflect these costs and encouraging the use of alternative materials such as recycled materials and certain waste products.

Go to Aggregates Levy: detailed information for further details on AGL, including how to pay.

AGL is split into three types of tonnage:

  • taxable tonnage (previously known as standard tonnage), charged at £2 per tonne

  • relieved tonnage, which can be claimed on any aggregate: exported from the UK in the form of aggregate (including to the Isle of Man and Channel Islands); used in specific industrial and agricultural processes; or disposed of as waste

  • exempt tonnage, which includes: certain materials such as slate, clay, soil and vegetable or other organic matter; aggregate arising as a by-product of specific processes; or aggregate produced by specific exempt processes such as producing lime or cement from limestone

Click here for more detailed information on AGL.

Statistical Background

HMRC uses 3 main measures for tax revenue:

  1. accruals (when the tax liability occurs)
  2. declarations (when HMRC is notified of the liability)
  3. cash receipts (when tax is paid to HMRC).

The Environmental Taxes Bulletin reports tax revenue in cash receipts.

These statistics are based on administrative data sources. These statistics undergo a thorough internal quality-assurance procedure before publication. HMRC’s statement on statistical quality is published in HMRC: Official Statistics.

Data sources - Climate Change Levy

Total CCL and CPF receipts statistics are sourced from HMRC bank accounts, as managed by the HMRC Chief Finance Officer (CFO) directorate. Total CCL and CPF receipts statistics are reported in the month payment was confirmed as received within HMRC bank accounts.

The bulletin may include negative receipts statistics when claims for repayments are larger than payments.

Total declarations and individual fuel (electricity, gas, and solid and other fuels) declarations statistics are sourced from CCL and CPF tax returns submitted to HMRC by registered taxpayers.

CCL and CPF taxpayers mainly follow quarterly accounting periods. Tax returns are due by the end of the month following the accounting period. Payment of tax receipts is also generally due to HMRC by the same time, but taxpayers who pay by direct debit are given a 7 day extension.

These accounting periods and payment patterns cause a 1 to 2 month lag between accounting periods ending and receipts being received by HMRC.

Data sources - Landfill Tax

The data source for the ‘total cash receipts’ statistics is HMRC’s bank accounts. ‘total cash receipts’ is based on the cleared cash receipts in HMRC’s bank accounts received during the month relating to LFT (for example, ‘total cash receipts’ statistics for March 2017 refer to cash received in HMRC’s bank accounts during the month of March 2017). ‘Total cash receipts’ may be negative where repayments made to taxpayers exceed payments.

Since January 2017 the data source for ‘total cash receipts’ has been HMRC’s accounting system.

The data source for ‘waste tonnage’, ‘credit claimed’ and ‘net tax declared’ statistics is the tax returns from the registered LFT taxpayers (form ‘LT 100’). These statistics are reported according to the last month of the taxpayers’ accounting/liability period.

LFT taxpayers mainly follow quarterly accounting periods. Tax returns are due by the end of the month following the accounting period. Payment of tax receipts is also generally due to HMRC by the same time, but taxpayers who pay by direct debit are given a 7 day extension.

These accounting periods and payment patterns cause a 1 to 2 month lag between accounting periods ending and receipts being received by HMRC.

The ‘waste tonnage’, ‘credit claimed’ and ‘net tax declared’ statistics are revised whenever amendments are made to returns or when late returns are received. For this reason the first three months of publication are provisional and may be updated based on incomplete or unfinalised return data.

‘Net tax declared’ is the tax payable on standard and lower rate waste tonnages minus any credits and reliefs claimed.

Credits claimed in respect of contributions to environmental bodies are credits claimed on monies which have been donated under the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF). The LCF enables landfill operators to support environmental projects.

The maximum credit that landfill site operators may claim against their annual Landfill Tax liability for contributions to enrolled environmental bodies under the LCF is 5.3% with effect from 1 April 2017. More information about LCF can be found on the ENTRUST website.

Data sources - Aggregates Levy

The data source for the ‘Total Cash Receipts’ statistics is HMRC’s bank accounts. ‘Total Cash Receipts’ is based on the cleared cash receipts in HMRC’s bank accounts received during the month relating to AGL (for example, ‘Total Cash Receipts’ statistics for March 2019 refer to cash received in HMRC’s bank accounts during the month of March 2019). ‘Total Cash Receipts’ may be negative where repayments made to taxpayers exceed payments.

The data source for ‘Taxable Tonnage’, ‘Relieved Tonnage’ and ‘Exempt Tonnage’ statistics is the tax returns from the registered AGL taxpayers (form AL 100). These statistics are reported according to the last month of the taxpayers’ accounting/liability period.

‘Levy Declared on Trader Returns’ refers to the amount of tax declared on tax returns submitted for each calendar month. The source of this data is the information provided by traders on the Aggregates Levy return through form AL 100.

AGL taxpayers mainly follow quarterly accounting periods. Tax returns are due by the end of the month following the accounting period. Payment of tax receipts is also generally due to HMRC by the same time, but taxpayers who pay by direct debit are given a 7 day extension.

These accounting periods and payment patterns cause a 1 to 2 month lag between accounting periods ending and receipts being received by HMRC.

Prior to 25 November 2004 ‘Taxable Tonnage’ was known as Standard Tonnage.

From 25 November 2004 ‘Total Tonnage’ is calculated by the addition of ‘Taxable Tonnage’ and ‘Exempt Tonnage’. To avoid double-counting, ‘Relieved Tonnage’ is now excluded from the calculation as it is also taxable aggregate, which is commercially exploited and is therefore accounted for in ‘Taxable Tonnage’.

Rounding policy

Tonnages are rounded to the nearest thousand tonnes. ‘Credit Claimed’, ‘Net Tax Declared’, ‘Levy Declared on Trader Returns’, and ‘Total Cash Receipts’, are all rounded to the nearest 0.1 million pounds. Cash receipts are rounded to the nearest million pounds.

Total CCL and CPF receipts, alongside estimated separate CCL and CPF receipts statistics, are rounded to the nearest million pounds. Total declarations and individual fuel (electricity, gas, and solid and other fuels) declarations statistics are rounded to the nearest 0.1 million pounds.

Any differences between totals and the sum of their parts within the bulletin is generally due to rounding. Percentage changes featured within the bulletin commentary document are calculated using unrounded figures, meaning they can be different to percentage changes calculated using statistics within the bulletin’s data tables.

Statistics may also show as zero within data tables where there are small negative values because of rounding.

Revisions policy

The latest 3 months of data are marked as ‘provisional’ within data tables.

Statistics which have changed since the previous release are marked as ‘revised’ within data tables. Revisions are only marked when the finalised figure has changed. As statistics are sourced from administrative data, they are subject to some adjustments, particularly during the initial months following publication.

Total cash receipts are aligned with the National Audit Office (NAO) audited ‘HMRC annual report and accounts’. This can result in adjustments to March statistics to ensure consistency between reported financial year totals. As such, March statistics are treated as provisional until aligned with the annual report and accounts.

Total declarations and individual fuel (electricity, gas, and solid and other fuels) declarations statistics are revised when amendments are made to returns by taxpayers, causing revisions to underlying data. HMRC also occasionally receives returns on a delayed basis from taxpayers, resulting in revisions to underlying data.

CCL declarations statistics and estimated separate CCL and CPF receipts statistics from February to November 2020 should also be treated with additional caution due to difficulties faced by taxpayers submitting returns during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This situation may cause additional future revisions.

Data limitations

CCL and CPF, and AGL statistics cover the United Kingdom. It is not possible to provide any regional breakdown on where tax liability arose as HMRC does not collect this data on the tax return.

LFT statistics cover England and Northern Ireland. Figures for financial year ending 2016 onwards are not directly comparable with previous years due to the devolution of the tax in Scotland and Wales.

From April 2015, Scottish Landfill Tax is being administered by Revenue Scotland and receipts/declarations are no longer included in the HMRC figures.

From April 2018, Welsh Revenue Authority have administered Landfill Disposals Tax. Information for these taxes are available on the Revenue Scotland and Welsh Revenue Authority websites.

Additionally, HMRC does not collect information on when the tax liability arose during the accounting period, meaning that the main cause for the quarterly pattern is the reporting of tax liabilities rather than underlying activity.

HMRC also does not collect sector information for taxpayers.

The quality of these statistics depends on the purpose they are intended to be used for. For understanding tax liabilities and cash receipts paid, these statistics are of high quality as they are based on returns and payments from registered taxpayers. But for other purposes the statistics may not be the most appropriate, as the scope of the statistics is defined by tax laws.

It is not possible to provide accurate separate receipts statistics for CCL and CPF because taxpayers pay receipts for both as one. An estimate of separate receipts statistics for CCL and CPF is provided using trader returns data and should be treated with caution.

Although it has been possible to estimate separate CCL and CPF receipts from January 2014 onwards, it has not been possible to estimate for the period April 2013 to December 2013 due to data quality issues.

LFT statistics differ from the ‘waste management’ statistics published by the Environment Agency and the ‘waste and recycling’ statistics published by DEFRA. Both coverage and definition of waste may vary; the categories used in the LFT bulletin are defined in the guidance on the HMRC website.

Pre-release access to statistics

The Environmental Taxes Bulletin provides no official pre-release access to the statistics. But as these statistics are sourced from administrative data, they may be used within HMRC for operational reasons before publication. HMRC maintains records of those with pre-release access to the departments National Statistics.

Contacts

The Environmental Taxes Bulletin is produced by the Indirect Tax Receipts Monitoring team as part of the ‘Excise duties, VAT and other tax statistics’ collection.

For statistical enquiries, contact: revenuemonitoring@hmrc.gov.uk

HMRC
Knowledge, Analysis and Intelligence (KAI)
Floor 2 Annex
Albert Bridge House
Manchester
M60 9AF

For media enquiries see HMRC press office.

For taxpayers with excise enquiries see the Excise Helpline.

Publication calendar

The Environmental Taxes Bulletin is published on the last working day of the month in June.

Prior to 30 June 2021, the bulletin was been published on GOV.UK in three seperate bulletins.

Information on previous publications can be found on the bulletin pages for the individual taxes:

Go to research and statistics for future Environmental Taxes Bulletin release date announcements. Announcements are published no later than 4 weeks before the release date.

User engagement

HMRC welcomes user engagement to improve the departments National and Official Statistics. You can contact statistics producers on GOV.UK.

Users were consulted about indirect tax receipts statistics from 20 November 2015 to 5 February 2016.

This bulletin was first published in June 2021 and was created following a consultation on the reduction and consolidation of HMRC statistics publications that ran from 8 February 2021 to 12 March 2021.

National Statistics

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority (UKSA) has given these statistics National Statistics status. This means that the statistics comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics as set out within the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

National Statistics status can generally be interpreted to mean that statistics:

  • meet user needs
  • are effectively communicated and accessible
  • undergo regular quality assurance reviews
  • are produced professional and according to sound methods
  • are managed impartially in the public interest and free of political interference Contact UKSA for queries about National and Official Statistics.

National statistics for cash receipts for all HMRC administered taxes are published in HM Revenue and Customs receipts.

The Public sector finances National Statistics bulletin from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and HM Treasury (HMT) provides the latest available estimates for key public sector finance statistics each month.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast duty receipts within their ‘economic and fiscal outlook’ publications.

The Office for National Statistics and HM Treasury publish ‘Public Sector Finances’, which covers tax receipts from all taxes on the ONS website.

HMRC do not publish a Tax Gap for the Environmental taxes. Official statistics on Tax Gaps are published in Measuring Tax Gaps on the HMRC website.

HMRC publishes the ‘Tax ready reckoner’ Official Statistics which show the estimated direct impact on HMRC tax revenues if simple changes were made to various taxes. They are intended to assist researchers and policymakers.

Statistics on the number of Enviornmental tax registered taxpayers can be found in Numbers of taxpayers and registered traders published on the HMRC website.

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