How does the UK raise its taxes? How does the UK spend its tax revenue? Which taxes raise the most revenue?
This is a freeview 'At a glance' guide to how taxes are raised and spent.
Tax yield by tax
This table has been compiled from data supplied by HMRC and the Office of National Statistics.
| Financial Year |
2022-23 £m |
% |
2021-22 £m |
% |
2020-21 £m |
% |
2019-20 £m |
% |
2018-19 £m |
% |
| Income Tax (IT) | 248,358 | 29.9% | 220,612 | 29.2% | 193,742 | 31.2% | 193,243 | 28.9% | 191,031 | 29.2% |
| PAYE Income Tax (included in IT) | 210,288 | 188,252 | 166,820 | 164,841 | 161,909 | |||||
| SA Income Tax (included in IT) | 42,939 | 37,029 | 31,186 | 32,185 | 31,518 | |||||
| National Insurance Contributions | 177,437 | 21.4% | 158,043 | 20.9% | 143,460 | 23.1% | 142,871 | 21.4% | 136,646 | 20.9% |
| Capital Gains Tax | 16,929 | 2.0% | 15,263 | 2.0% | 11,131 | 1.8% | 9,826 | 1.5% | 9,197 | 1.4% |
| Apprenticeship Levy | 3,580 | 0.4% | 3,213 | 0.4% | 2,910 | 0.5% | 2,798 | 0.4% | 2,713 | 0.4% |
| Value Added Tax | 159,748 | 19.2% | 157,546 | 20.8% | 101,650 | 16.4% | 129,885 | 19.4% | 132,177 | 20.2% |
| Corporation Tax (CT) | 77,832 | 9.4% | 63,724 | 8.4% | 50,486 | 8.1% | 61,106 | 9.1% | 54,272 | 8.3% |
| Offshore (included in CT) | 6,613 | 1,996 | 498 | 1,274 | 1,912 | |||||
| Bank Levy | 1,332 | 0.2% | 1,469 | 0.2% | 2,343 | 0.4% | 2,472 | 0.4% | 2,565 | 0.4% |
| Bank Surcharge | 2,569 | 0.3% | 2,352 | 0.3% | 1,420 | 0.2% | 1,978 | 0.3% | 1,904 | 0.3% |
| Diverted Profits Tax | 42 | 0.0% | 220 | 0.0% | 140 | 0.0% | 5 | 0.0% | 12 | 0.0% |
| Digital Services Tax | 567 | 0.1% | 380 | 0.1% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% |
| Residential Property Developer Tax | 157 | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% |
| Energy Profits Levy | 2,632 | 0.3% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% |
| Petroleum Revenue Tax | -234 | 0.0% | -552 | -0.1% | -241 | 0.0% | -408 | -0.1% | -744 | -0.1% |
| Hydrocarbon Oil (Fuel duties) | 25,100 | 3.0% | 25,943 | 3.4% | 20,932 | 3.4% | 27,573 | 4.1% | 27,993 | 4.3% |
| Inheritance Tax |
7,087 |
0.9% | 6,054 | 0.8% | 5,326 | 0.9% | 5,122 | 0.8% | 5,359 | 0.8% |
| Stamp Duty (shares) | 3,782 | 0.5% | 4,369 | 0.6% | 3,678 | 0.6% | 3,619 | 0.5% | 3,620 | 0.6% |
| Stamp Duty Land Tax | 15,359 | 1.8% | 14,098 | 1.9% | 8,668 | 1.4% | 11,601 | 1.7% | 11,942 | 1.8% |
| Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings | 124 | 0.0% | 119 | 0.0% | 111 | 0.0% | 128 | 0.0% | 139 | 0.0% |
| Tobacco duties | 10,004 | 1.2% | 10,278 | 1.4% | 9,964 | 1.6% | 8,804 | 1.3% | 9,290 | 1.4% |
| Spirits duties | 4,136 | 0.5% | 4,401 | 0.6% | 4,115 | 0.7% | 3,825 | 0.6% | 3,779 | 0.6% |
| Beer duties | 3,680 | 0.4% | 3,747 | 0.5% | 3,084 | 0.5% | 3,446 | 0.5% | 3,661 | 0.6% |
| Wines duties | 4,391 | 0.5% | 4,734 | 0.6% | 4,659 | 0.7% | 4,296 | 0.6% | 4,392 | 0.7% |
| Cider duties | 236 | 0.0% | 234 | 0.0% | 248 | 0.0% | 270 | 0.0% | 279 | 0.0% |
| Betting & Gaming | 3,303 | 0.4% | 3,074 | 0.4% | 2,837 | 0.5% | 3,019 | 0.5% | 2,985 | 0.5% |
| Air Passenger Duty | 3,181 | 0.4% | 1,015 | 0.1% | 585 | 0.1% | 3,641 | 0.5% | 3,636 | 0.6% |
| Insurance Premium Tax | 7,341 | 0.9% | 6,627 | 0.9% | 6,307 | 1.0% | 6,415 | 1.0% | 6,197 | 0.9% |
| Landfill Tax | 626 | 0.1% | 667 | 0.1% | 566 | 0.1% | 641 | 0.1% | 683 | 0.1% |
| Climate Change Levy | 2,094 | 0.3% | 1,930 | 0.3% | 1,778 | 0.3% | 2,004 | 0.3% | 1,922 | 0.3% |
| Aggregates Levy | 378 | 0.0% | 410 | 0.1% | 359 | 0.1% | 397 | 0.1% | 367 | 0.1% |
| Soft Drinks Industry Levy | 355 | 0.0% | 334 | 0.0% | 299 | 0.0% | 337 | 0.1% | 240 | 0.0% |
| Plastic Packaging Tax | 200 | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - | 0.0% |
| Swiss Capital Tax | 0 | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | -1 | 0.0% | - | 0.0% | - 1 | 0.0% |
| Customs Duties | 5,526 | 0.7% | 4,791 | 0.6% | 2,962 | 0.5% | 3,287 | 0.5% | 3,356 | 0.5% |
| Penalties | 763 | 0.1% | 586 | 0.1% | 445 | 0.1% | 641 | 0.1% | 720 | 0.1% |
|
Collected by HMRC |
788,615 | 715,681 |
583,963 |
632,842 |
620,330 |
|||||
| Council tax | 41,967 | 5.1% | 39,970 | 5.3% | 37,577 | 6.0% | 36,241 | 5.4% | 34,831 | 5.3% |
| Business rates * | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Total taxes | 830,582 | 100% | 755,651 | 100% | 621,540 | 100% | 669,083 | 100% | 655,163 | 100% |
*Business rates gross about £20,500m (2021-22). These are only paid by businesses with business premises that do not currently qualify for small business rate relief and therefore if included in the above totals, they would account for roughly 2.6% of tax revenue.
How taxes are spent
How are our taxes spent by the government?
This summary is compiled from the data provided to taxpayers in their individual tax accounts by HMRC. It shows the expenditure as a percentage of taxes collected by HMRC.
A summary of taxes collected by HMRC is on the previous tab.
This includes the years before the UK felt the full effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.
| 2022-23 | 2021-22 | 2020-21 | 2019-20 | 2018-19 | 2017-18 | 2016-17 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description | % | % | % | % | % | % | % |
| Welfare | 19.6 | 20.4 | 19.6 | 22.1 | 23.5 | 23.8 | 24.3 |
| Health | 19.8 | 22.8 | 21.9 | 20.5 | 20.2 | 19.9 | 20.3 |
| State Pensions | 10.3 | 11.0 | 10.1 | 12.4 | 12.8 | 12.8 | 12.9 |
| Education | 9.9 | 10.5 | 9.6 | 11.6 | 11.8 | 12 | 12.3 |
| Defence | 5.2 | 5.1 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.2 |
| National Debt Interest | 12.0 | 7.6 | 4.1 | 6.9 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 5.5 |
| Transport | 4.1 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.2 |
| Public Order and Safety | 4.1 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.2 |
| Business and Industry | 7.6 | 5.4 | 14.4 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
| Government Administration | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| Housing and Utilities, like street lighting | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| Environment | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Culture, like sports, libraries, museums | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Overseas Aid | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| UK Contribution to the EU Budget | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Total* | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Council expenditure out of council tax ** | |||||||
| Council expenditure out of business rates *** |
*Rounding means that these are not 100%.
**Council tax is not collected by HMRC and so it does not analyse how it is spent. A summary is supplied by your local council.
***Business rates are not collected by HMRC but are redistributed to councils.
Sources
By way of a simplistic explanation of the figures and data sources:
- The Office of National Statistics (ONS) is in charge of collecting and analysing data on the UK's public finances.
- HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) provides its own data on the taxes it administers and collects to the ONS and it also publishes it in limited form for taxpayers.
- The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) analyses the data to check that the government is on track with its promises, and the chancellor uses the OBR data in setting the Budget.
OBR Public finances databank 2019-20
OBR Public finances databank 2020-21
OBR Public finances databank 2021-22
OBR Public finances databank 2022-23
OBR Public finances databank 2023-24OBR Public finances databank 2023-24
Taxpayer business account summary (log into your account).
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