National statistics

HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK (monthly bulletin)

Updated 21 February 2023

Released 21 February 2023. Next release 21 March 2023.

Headlines

Total HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £660.0 billion, which is £65.1 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier.

Monthly cash receipts data from April 2022 are provisional until they are aligned to the HMRC Annual Reports and Accounts for 2022 to 2023. Differences between the two publications can occur as the HMRC ARA presents data on an accrued basis.

The data source for this release is available in the HMRC tax receipts and NICs statistics table. Monthly receipts data is available from April 2008.

This release includes minor revisions to:

• Corporation Tax data for April 2021 to March 2022, and the impact is 0.1% (£50 million)

• Bank Levy data for April 2021 to March 2022, and the impact is 3.2% (£50 million)

Figure 1, HMRC receipts April to January 2023

Figure 1 above provides a comparison of total HMRC receipts for April 2022 to January 2023, compared to the same period in the year before in both percentage and monetary terms and shows:

• cash receipts were higher from Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax & National Insurance Contributions (NICs) (£44.9 billion), business taxes (£13.8 billion) and stamp taxes (£1.7 billion)

• in percentage terms, receipts were higher from business taxes (25%), Inheritance Tax (17%), environmental taxes (15%), Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax & NICs (14%) and stamp taxes (11%)

• cash receipts from Air Passenger Duty were higher by £1.9 billion and in percentage terms, receipts were substantially higher though the latter is not shown in Figure 1

About this National Statistics release

This bulletin includes monthly receipts (on a cash basis) for the last four tax years from tax and duties, NICs, and fines and penalties that HMRC are responsible for administering.

Further background on the methodology, release and quality of these statistics can be found in the quality report for HMRC Receipts on GOV.UK.

Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax & NICs

Receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £368.5 billion, which is £44.9 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier.

Receipts from PAYE Income Tax and NIC1 for April 2022 to January 2023 are £312.6 billion, which is £36.7 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier. January receipts largely relate to December liabilities. Estimates on earnings and employment are available in HMRC’s published statistics.

Receipts from Self Assessment Income Tax and NICs for April 2022 to January 2023 are £55.9 billion, which is £8.9 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier. Payments close to the Self Assessment filing deadline, and the time taken for those to then appear in administrative data, mean that the proportion of self-assessed taxes recorded in January and February can vary year-on-year. It is therefore advisable to consider these two months together when making annual comparisons at this time of year.

Figure 2, Monthly receipts

Figure 2 above contains the monthly receipts patterns in each tax year since 2019 to 2020 and shows:

• receipts peak in July and January each year, reflecting the bi-annual due dates for SA

• from January to April, monthly receipts are also at higher levels as they typically capture PAYE bonus-related receipts, particularly from the financial sector

• lower than usual growth in receipts of 0.7% in the tax year April 2020 to March 2021 is likely dampened by a combination of reduced economic activity leading to lower tax liabilities and deferral and non-payment of liabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic

• the significantly higher receipts in April 2021 to March 2022 compared to the year earlier are partially due to the impacts of the initial onset of the Covid-19 pandemic

• the increase in NICs rates, effective from April 2022, affects HMRC’s NICs receipts from May 2022 onwards

• the increase to the NICs Primary Threshold, effective from July 2022, affects HMRC’s NICs receipts from August 2022 onwards

• the decrease in NICs rates, effective from November 2022 affects NICs receipts from December 2022 onwards

Further information on Income Tax and personal incomes is available in the personal taxes section published on GOV.UK.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

Receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £136.5 billion, which is £1.3 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier. Payments through the VAT payment deferment policy, have now largely ceased, however comparisons to last year remain unrepresentative, alongside wider economic impacts relating to coronavirus.

Figure 3, Monthly receipts

Figure 3 above shows the monthly receipts patterns in each tax year since 2019 to 2020 shows:

• the large peaks in particular months reflect when the majority of receipts are paid quarterly, with many traders opting to pay in April, July, October, and January, and this is largely as it corresponds with the end of the financial and calendar year

• receipts dropped significantly between March 2020 and June 2020 due to the VAT payment deferment policy

• further reductions in receipts across the April 2020 to March 2021 financial year can be attributed to economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the temporary reduced rate of 5% for hospitality, holiday accommodation and attractions

• the higher than usual receipts received in March 2021 to January 2022 is due to significant payments of VAT previously deferred as part of the VAT payment deferral scheme

• alongside payments of deferred VAT, receipts since April 2021 have also increased as a result of economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic

• receipts in 2022 will be influenced by both high levels of inflation and subsequent changes in real consumer expenditure, though it is not possible to directly disaggregate these effects

Further information and statistics on VAT are available in the business tax statistics section on GOV.UK.

Business Taxes

This section includes receipts from Corporation Tax, Petroleum Revenue Tax, Bank Levy (from July 2011), Bank Surcharge (from April 2016), Diverted Profits Tax (from March 2017), Digital Services Tax (from March 2022), Residential Property Developer Tax (from June 2022) and Energy Profits Levy (from December 2022).

Overall receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £68.8 billion, which is £13.8 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier.

Figure 4, Monthly receipts

Figure 4 above shows the monthly receipts pattern in each tax year since 2019 to 2020 and shows:

• peaks in July, October, January, and April where, historically, the majority of large companies made their corporation tax quarterly instalment payments

• peaks in March, June, September, and December are due to a payment timing change for the largest companies, introduced in the tax year 2019 to 2020, which brought forward their quarterly instalment payments by four months

• receipts in the tax year April 2020 to March 2021 fell by £11.5 billion compared with a year earlier, mainly due to the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the unwinding of the payment timing change for very large companies

• lower receipts in April, July, October, and January in the last two full outturn years compared with 2019 to 2020 is mainly due to the payment timing change for very large companies

• the higher receipts in the peaks for the largest companies (December 2021, March 2022, June 2022, and September 2022) compared with a year earlier mainly reflects the economy and company profits recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic

• the higher receipts in January 2023 compared with a year earlier is mainly due to the higher offshore receipts, as a result of high energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the new Energy Profits Levy

Further information and statistics on these taxes are available in the corporate tax statistics section on GOV.UK.

Stamp Taxes and Annual Tax Enveloped Dwellings (ATED)

Overall receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £16.8 billion, which is £1.7 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier. Figures exclude SDLT devolved to Scotland from April 2015 onwards and to Wales from April 2018 and include the impact of First Time Buyers’ Relief from November 2017.

Figure 5, Monthly receipts:

Figure 5 above contains the monthly receipts patterns in each tax year since 2019 to 2020 and shows:

• lower receipts in the tax year 2020 to 2021 is mainly due to a fall in property sales, market uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and the introduction of the temporary reduced rates for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on residential properties

• the higher receipts in June and July 2021, and then in September and October 2021 can be explained by higher numbers of transactions completed before the end of the SDLT holiday which ended on the 30 June (for zero tax rate on the first £500k) and 30 September (for zero tax rate on the first £250k)

• the higher receipts in December 2021 can be explained by a surge in property completions before Christmas, although this effect was particularly pronounced in 2021

• the higher receipts in February 2022 compared to previous years can partly be attributed to the economic impact surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 to 2021

• the significantly higher receipts from April 2022, compared to the same period a year earlier, can be explained in part by the lower tax rates in 2021 to 2022 due to the SDLT residential holiday which finished at the end of September 2021

• the introduction of lower rates of stamp duty from 23 September 2022 will largely be reflected in receipts from October 2022

Further information and statistics on stamps taxes are available in the business taxes statistics section on GOV.UK.

Hydrocarbon Oil (fuel duty)

Receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £21.0 billion, which is £1.0 billion lower than in the same period a year earlier.

Figure 6, Monthly receipts

Figure 6 above contains the monthly receipts patterns in each tax year since 2019 to 2020 and shows:

• the troughs at the beginning of each calendar year in January are most likely to be a result of bad weather conditions

• the lower receipts in April 2020 to March 2021 compared to the year before is due to the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic which depressed receipts

Further information and statistics on road fuel taxes are available in the business tax statistics section on GOV.UK.

Tobacco duty

Receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £8.6 billion, which is £0.2 billion lower than in the same period a year earlier.

Figure 7, Monthly receipts

Figure 7 above contains the monthly receipts patterns in each tax year since 2019 to 2020 and shows:

• the pattern in monthly receipts can be volatile

• the volatility is caused by high clearances one month followed by low clearances the next month, and these fluctuations can follow price increases by manufacturers, for example forestalling, whereby a manufacturer will bulk release products for consumption prior to anticipating duty increases at budget, though this can vary each year depending on the timings of the budget

Cigarettes are also subject to anti-forestalling restrictions in advance of a Budget, and further information is available in the HMRC Notice 85C published on GOV.UK.

Further information and statistics on Tobacco Duty are available in the business tax statistics section on GOV.UK.

Alcohol duty

Receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £10.9 billion, which is £0.5 billion lower than in the same period a year earlier.

Figure 8, Monthly receipts

Figure 8 above contains the monthly receipts patterns in each tax year since 2019 to 2020 and shows:

• peaks in December receipts are due to higher levels of alcohol being released for consumption during November in preparation for the Christmas period

• the large increase in receipts in June 2020 and August 2020 partly reflects late payment of outstanding duties as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic

Further information and statistics on Alcohol Duties are available in the business tax statistics section on GOV.UK.

Environmental taxes

This section includes receipts from Landfill Tax, Aggregates Levy, Climate Change Levy, Carbon Price Floor and Plastic Packaging Tax.

Total receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £2.9 billion, which is £0.4 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier. This excludes figures devolved to Scotland (from April 2015) and to Wales (from April 2018).

Figure 9, Monthly receipts

Figure 9 above contains the monthly receipts patterns in each tax year since 2019 to 2020 and shows:

• peak months for receipts in April, July, October, and January, and these are when the majority of traders make their quarterly instalment payments

• lower receipts in the tax year, April 2020 to March 2021, are due to economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic

• higher receipts in May, August, November 2021, and February 2022 can be attributed to timing effects which offsets the lower receipts seen in the month prior

• receipts from July 2022 include the new Plastic Packaging Tax

Further information and statistics on environmental taxes are available in the business tax statistics section on GOV.UK.

Air Passenger Duty (APD)

Receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £2.7 billion, which is £1.9 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier.

Figure 10, Monthly receipts

Figure 10 above contains the monthly receipts patterns in each tax year since 2019 to 2020 and shows:

• receipts tend to rise in the summer months and fall during winter, with a slight upturn in January, reflecting increased travel during December

• receipts from March 2020 onwards are significantly lower due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated impacts on the aviation sector

• receipts continue to rise following the lifting of travel restrictions but remain below levels before the Covid-19 pandemic

Further information and statistics on APD are available in the business tax statistics section on GOV.UK.

Inheritance Tax (IHT)

Receipts for April 2022 to January 2023 are £5.9 billion, which is £0.9 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier.

Figure 11, Monthly receipts

Figure 11 above contains the monthly receipts patterns in each financial year since 2019 to 2020 and shows:

• receipts in April 2019 were particularly high, reflecting announcements (and subsequent delays and cancellations) of rises to probate fees in England and Wales, which is likely to have caused executors to bring forward tax payments to avoid the prospective higher fees

• the lower receipts in April and May 2020, were due to a temporary issue where HMRC were unable to accept cheques for payment of IHT due to Covid-19, which was resolved, hence the peak in June 2020 receipts

• higher receipts in October to November 2020, March to August 2021, and March 2022, are expected to be due to a combination of, higher volumes of wealth transfers that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, recent rises in asset values, and the government’s March 2021 decision to maintain the IHT tax free thresholds at their 2020 to 2021 levels up to and including 2025 to 2026

• the higher receipts in June 2022 and November 2022 can be attributed to a small number of higher-value payments than usual

Further information and statistics on IHT are available in the personal incomes statistics section on GOV.UK.

Contacts

For any further information, queries or to provide feedback on this publication, please contact either K Mason or L Suckling at crosscuttingstatistics@hmrc.gov.uk.

For media enquiries, see HMRC press office.