Average UK household incomes taxes and benefits by household type, tenure status, household characteristics and long-term trends in income inequality.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) is based on information held by HM Revenue and Customs tax offices on individuals who could be liable to UK income tax. It is carried out annually by HMRC and covers income assessable to tax for each tax year. Not all of them are taxpayers because the operation of personal reliefs and allowances may remove them from liability. Where income exceeds the threshold for operation of Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE), the survey provides the most comprehensive and accurate official source of data on personal incomes.

The SPI is compiled to provide a quantified evidence base from which to cost proposed changes to tax rates, personal allowances and other tax reliefs for Treasury Ministers. It is used to inform policy decisions within HMRC and the Treasury, as well as for tax modelling and forecasting purposes. In addition, it is used to provide summary information for the National Accounts that are prepared by the Office for National Statistics. Finally, it is used to provide information to Members of Parliament, other Government Departments, companies, organisation and individuals.

The UK Data Archive currently holds the Public Use Tape (PUT) data for 1985-86 and 1995-96 onwards (data for 2008-09 is currently unavailable). For further details of sampling and coverage criteria, see documentation. Further information about the SPI, including income tax and personal incomes statistics, is available on the GOV.UK Statistics about personal incomes webpage.




Main Topics:
The Public Use Tape (PUT) dataset is an anonymised dataset and is based on the SPI. It allows users to produce their own analysis. The dataset contains a range of variables about personal incomes arising from employment, self employment, pension, benefits, property, savings, investments and other income sources. The dataset also contains variables about allowances, deductions and reliefs, which people might be due. There is also a regional code variable on the dataset and a trade code for cases which are self-employed. A list of data items on the Public Use Tape is provided in Annex A of the documentation.

These figures show the median gross annual pay for full-time workers on a resident basis for the area, who are on adults rates of pay, and whose pay was not affected by absence. Figures are for GB pounds per annum. Full-time workers are defined as those who work more than 30 paid hours per week or those in teaching professions working 25 paid hours or more per week. Figures for earnings come from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) which is based on a 1 per cent sample of employees, information on whose earnings and hours is obtained from employers. The survey does not cover people who are self-employed, nor does it cover employees not paid during the reference period. Information relates to a pay period in April. The earnings information collected relates to gross pay before tax, national insurance or other deductions, and excludes payments in kind (i.e. payment made in the form of goods and services rather than cash). It is restricted to earnings relating to the survey pay period and so excludes payments of arrears from another period made during the survey period; any payments due as a result of a pay settlement but not yet paid at the time of the survey will also be excluded. Estimates for 2011 and subsequent years use a weighting scheme based on occupations which have been coded according to Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2010 that replaced SOC 2000. Therefore care should be taken when making comparisons with earlier years. Where the estimate is assessed with a coefficient of variation (CV) of over 20 per cent, these figures have been suppressed, as they are considered by the ONS as unreliable.Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

The Social Security Rate in the United Kingdom stands at 23.80 percent. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Social Security Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

As shown by the recent crisis, tax evasion poses a significant problem for countries such as Greece, Spain and Italy. While these societies certainly possess weaker fiscal institutions as compared to other EU members, might broader cultural differences between northern and southern Europe also help to explain citizens’ (un)willingness to pay their taxes? To address this question, we conduct laboratory experiments in the UK and Italy, two countries which straddle this North-South divide. Our design allows us to examine citizens’ willingness to contribute to public goods via taxes while holding institutions constant. We report a surprising result: when faced with identical tax institutions, redistribution rules and audit probabilities, Italian participants are significantly more likely to comply than Britons. Overall, our findings cast doubt upon “culturalist” arguments that would attribute cross-country differences in tax compliance to the lack of morality amongst southern European taxpayers.

Child Tax Credit (CTC) provides support to families for the children (up to the 31 August after their 16th birthdays) and the "qualifying" young people (those in full-time non-advanced education until their 20th birthdays) for which they are responsible. It is paid in addition to Child Benefit. Some out of work families with children do not receive CTC but instead receive the equivalent amount via child and related allowances in Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (IS/JSA). These families are included in the figures, generally together with out of work families receiving CTC. In due course, they will be "migrated" to tax credits. Working Tax Credit (WTC) tops up the earnings of families on low or moderate incomes. People working for at least 16 hours a week can claim it if they (a) are responsible for at least one child or qualifying young person, (b) have a disability which puts them at a disadvantage in getting a job or (c) in the first year of work, having returned to work aged at least 50 after a period of at least six months receiving out-of-work benefits. Other adults qualify if they are aged at least 25 and work for at least 30 hours a week. Ward data available in the Ward profiles. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-tax-credits-statistics

This dataset provides values for PERSONAL INCOME TAX RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Supporting dataset using data from Census, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and National Benefits Database. Tables contain data on earnings progression and geographic mobility from tax year ending 2012 to tax year ending 2016, broken down by characteristics such as age, sex, ethnicity, qualification level and local authority. The dataset also includes regression model output tables.

Background
The Annual Population Survey (APS) Household datasets are produced annually and are available from 2004 (Secure Access) and 2006 (End User Licence). They allow production of family and household labour market statistics at local areas and for small sub-groups of the population across the UK. The data comprise key variables from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33246) and the APS (person) datasets (held at the Data Archive under GN 33357). The former is a quarterly survey of households living at private addresses in the UK. The latter is created by combining individuals in waves one and five from four consecutive LFS quarters with the English, Welsh and Scottish Local Labour Force Surveys (LLFS). The APS Household datasets therefore contain results from four different sources.

The APS Household datasets include all the variables on the LFS and APS person datasets except for the income variables. They also include key family and household level derived variables. These variables allow for an analysis of the combined economic activity status of the family or household. In addition they also include more detailed geographical, industry, occupation, health and age variables.

For information on the main (person) APS datasets, for which EUL and Secure Access versions are available, please see GNs 33357 and 33427, respectively.

New reweighting policy
Following the new reweighting policy ONS has reviewed the latest population estimates made available during 2019 and have decided not to carry out a 2019 LFS and APS reweighting exercise. Therefore, the next reweighting exercise will take place in 2020. These will incorporate the 2019 Sub-National Population Projection data (published in May 2020) and 2019 Mid-Year Estimates (published in June 2020). It is expected that reweighted Labour Market aggregates and microdata will be published in 2021.

Secure Access APS Household data
Secure Access datasets for the APS Household survey include additional variables not included in the EUL versions (GN 33455). Extra variables that may be found in the Secure Access version but not in the EUL version relate to:

• geography (see 'Spatial Units' below)
• individual demographics, including age bands, day of birth, sex/marital status and detailed ethnicity
• main reason for coming to the UK
• number of bedrooms
• health problems, work-related health problems, sickness absence from work
• reasons why not in work, including health and other reasons, wage received when not in work, time away from job, and whether and when will work in the future
• type of benefit claimed
• education and training, including
  • vocational and work-related qualifications and training
  • class of first degree
  • qualifications from government schemes
  • number of O levels/GCSEs, etc held
  • qualifications held from UK and abroad
  • qualifications gained from school/home schooling
  • qualifications below highest level
  • other qualifications
  • time spent in taught courses
  • who paid for training
  • main place of education/training
  • length of training course
  • level of Welsh baccalaureate
• worst 30 local authorities based on Indices of Deprivation
• casual/holiday work
• disability, including learning difficulty/disability
• payment of own National Insurance and tax

Prospective users of the Secure Access version of an APS Household dataset will need to fulfil additional requirements, including completion of face-to-face training and agreement to Secure Access' User Agreement, in order to obtain permission to use that version (see 'Access' section below). The EUL version of the data, for which less stingent access conditions apply, may suffice for many users' research requirements. Further details and links to all APS studies can be found via the APS Key Data series webpage.

Documentation and coding frames
The APS is compiled from variables present in the LFS. For variable and value labelling and coding frames that are not included either in the data or in the current APS documentation (e.g. coding frames for education, industrial and geographic variables, which are held in LFS User Guide Vol.5, Classifications), users are advised to consult the latest versions of the LFS User Guides, which are available from the ONS Labour Force Survey - User Guidance webpages.

For the ninth edition (October 2023), the data file covering January - December 2021 has been revised.

Elected Members, including the City Mayor, are paid an annual allowance in exchange for the time and expenses they incur on council business.This dataset contains details of expenses paid following review of these in 2023. Separate datasets are published containing figures from earlier years.All figures shown are gross payments and are subject to Income Tax and National Insurance.Members can decline any element / increase (in full or in part) of their Allowance.Basic Allowances - All Members receive a Basic Allowance.Special Responsibility Allowance - Members who take specific responsibilities such as a Commission Chair are paid an additional Special Responsibility Allowance. Details of these are included in the Members' Allowance Scheme which does not allow any individual to receive more than one Special Responsibility Allowance.Dependant Care Allowance - Members may claim expenses in relation to dependant care where appropriate.Travel and Subsistence Outside City - Additional expenses can be claimed for travel and subsistence outside the city boundary when undertaking council approved business.Independent Persons / Members / Co-Optees - The council is required to appoint Independent Persons and Independent Members to support the Standards process, which has a role in governing the conduct of Councillors. There is also a statutory requirement for Co-optees to contribute to the council's activities from an education perspective, specifically as part of the Council's Children Young People and Education Scrutiny Commission. These positions receive the allowances shown. In addition, Independent Persons can claim Travel Expenses.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Background
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a unique source of information using international definitions of employment and unemployment and economic inactivity, together with a wide range of related topics such as occupation, training, hours of work and personal characteristics of household members aged 16 years and over. It is used to inform social, economic and employment policy. The LFS was first conducted biennially from 1973-1983. Between 1984 and 1991 the survey was carried out annually and consisted of a quarterly survey conducted throughout the year and a 'boost' survey in the spring quarter (data were then collected seasonally). From 1992 quarterly data were made available, with a quarterly sample size approximately equivalent to that of the previous annual data. The survey then became known as the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS). From December 1994, data gathering for Northern Ireland moved to a full quarterly cycle to match the rest of the country, so the QLFS then covered the whole of the UK (though some additional annual Northern Ireland LFS datasets are also held at the UK Data Archive). Further information on the background to the QLFS may be found in the documentation.

Secure Access QLFS data
Secure Access datasets for the QLFS are available from the April-June 1992 quarter, and include additional, detailed variables not included in the standard 'End User Licence' (EUL) versions (see under GN 33246). Extra variables that typically can be found in the Secure Access versions but not in the EUL relate to:

• geography (see 'Spatial Units' below)
• date of birth, including day
• education and training: including type of 'other qualifications', more detail regarding the number of O'levels/GCSE passes, type of qualification gained in last 12 months, class of first degree, type of degree held, UK country of highest degree, type of current educational institution, level of Welsh baccalaureate, activities to improve knowledge or skills in last 12 months, attendance at adult learning taught courses, attendance at leisure or educational classes, self-teaching, payment of job-related training fees
• household and family characteristics: including number of family units (and extended family units) with dependent children only, and with non-dependent children only, total number of family units with more than one person, total number of eligible people, type of household, type of family unit, number of bedrooms
• employment: including industry code of main job, whether working full-time or part-time, reason job is temporary, payment of own National Insurance and tax, when started working at previous job, whether paid or self-employed in previous job, contracts with employment agency
• unemployment and job hunting: including main reason for not being employed prior to current job, reasons for leaving job (provision of care or other personal/family reasons), use of internet for job hunting, if and when will work in the future
• temporary leave from work: including proportion of salary received and duration of leave
• accidents at work and work-related health problems
• nationality, national identity and country of birth: including whether lived continuously in UK, month of most recent arrival to UK, frequency of Welsh speaking
• occurrence of learning difficulty or disability
• benefits, including additional variables on type of benefits claimed and tax credit payments

Secure Access versions of QLFS household datasets are available from 2009 under SN 7674.

Prospective users of a Secure Access version of the QLFS will need to fulfil additional requirements, commencing with the completion of an extra application form to demonstrate to the data owners exactly why they need access to the extra, more detailed variables, in order to obtain permission to use that version. Secure Access users must also complete face-to-face training and agree to Secure Access' User Agreement (see 'Access' section below). Therefore, users are encouraged to download and inspect the EUL version of the data prior to ordering the Secure Access version.

Well-Being variables are not included in the LFS
Users should note that subjective well-being variables (Satis, Worth, Happy, Anxious and Sad) are not available on the LFS, despite being referenced in the questionnaire. Users who wish to analyse well-being variables should apply for the Annual Population Survey instead (see SNs 6721 and 7961).

LFS Documentation
The documentation available from the Archive to accompany LFS datasets largely consists of the relevant versions of each volume of the user guide. However, LFS volumes are updated periodically by ONS, so users are advised to...

This is the proportion of newly born enterprises still active three years after birth in the area.A business is deemed to have survived if, having been a birth in year t or having survived to year t, it is active in terms of employment and/or turnover in any part of t+1.

This data is produced from an extract taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The publication focuses on changes to the registered business population, that is, those businesses registered at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) and at Companies House.

The starting point for demography is the concept of a population of active businesses in a reference year (t). These are defined as businesses that had either turnover or employment at any time during the reference period. Proportions are based on figures rounded independently to the nearest 5 units.

Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

This is the proportion of newly born enterprises still active five years after birth in the area.A business is deemed to have survived if, having been a birth in year t or having survived to year t, it is active in terms of employment and/or turnover in any part of t+1.

This data is produced from an extract taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The publication focuses on changes to the registered business population, that is, those businesses registered at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) and at Companies House.

The starting point for demography is the concept of a population of active businesses in a reference year (t). These are defined as businesses that had either turnover or employment at any time during the reference period. Proportions are based on figures rounded independently to the nearest 5 units.

Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

A dataset of car tax calculations for company cars by operating cycle, manufacturer, model, and derivative.

This is the proportion of newly born enterprises still active one year after birth in the area.A business is deemed to have survived if, having been a birth in year t or having survived to year t, it is active in terms of employment and/or turnover in any part of t+1.

This data is produced from an extract taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). The publication focuses on changes to the registered business population, that is, those businesses registered at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) and at Companies House.

The starting point for demography is the concept of a population of active businesses in a reference year (t). These are defined as businesses that had either turnover or employment at any time during the reference period. Proportions are based on figures rounded independently to the nearest 5 units.

Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

This is the number of deaths of enterprises in the area. A death is defined as a business that was on the active file in year t, but was no longer present in the active file in t+1 and t+2.In order to provide an early estimate of deaths, an adjustment has been made to the latest two years' deaths to allow for reactivations. These figures are provisional and subject to revision. This data is produced from an extract taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR).

The publication focuses on changes to the registered business population, that is, those businesses registered at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for Value Added Tax (VAT) and/or Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) and at Companies House. The starting point for business demography is the concept of a population of active businesses in a reference year (t). These are defined as businesses that had either turnover or employment at any time during the reference period. Births and deaths are then identified by comparing active business populations for different years.

Figures for each period are rounded independently to the nearest 5 using controlled rounding. Quarterly business births and deaths are also available.

Data is Powered by LG Inform Plus and automatically checked for new data on the 3rd of each month.

The effects of direct and indirect taxation and benefits received in cash or kind on household income, across the generations and by age.

This data is estimated by combining multiple years of the Living Costs and Food Survey from 1978 to financial year ending March 2017 and the Household Finances Statistics, from financial year ending 2018 to financial year ending 2021 with the exception of 1979 and 1981. All financial amounts are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) excluding Council Tax, to their financial year ending March 2018. For example, the mean disposable income for those aged 35 and born in the 1970’s (£35,752) is estimated by taking the average (in real terms) of the household disposable income for these people across the combined dataset.

This analysis, produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), examines how taxes and benefits redistribute income between various groups of households in the United Kingdom. It shows where different types of households and individuals are in the income distribution and looks at the changing levels of income inequality over time. The main sources of data for this study are:

• Family Expenditure Survey (FES) from 1977-2001
• Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS) from 2001-2007
• Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF) from 2008 to 2017
• Household Finances Survey (HFS) from 2018 onwards
  

Some variables have been created by combining data from the LCF (previously FES or EFS) with control totals from a variety of different government sources, including:

• United Kingdom National Accounts (ONS Blue Book)
• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
• Department for Transport (DfT)
• Department of Health (DH)
• Department for Education and Employment (DfEE)
• Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)

For further information, see the ONS Effects of taxes and benefits on household income webpage.

Users should note that this combined ETB household (1977-2021) and person (2018-2021) datasets replace all previous individual year files, which have been withdrawn from use at the depositor's request.

Latest edition information

For the second edition (September 2022), revised data for 2019/20 and new cases for 2020/21 were added to the household and person files.

Method of Data Collection
The ETB has been produced each year since 1961 and is an annual analysis looking at how taxes and benefits affect the income of households in the UK.

Since 2018, the estimates in this analysis are based on data derived from the HFS Survey (the HCF is not currently held by the UK Data Service). The HFS is an annual survey of the expenditure and income of private households. People living in hotels, lodging houses, and in institutions such as old people's homes are excluded. Each person aged 16 and over keeps a full record of payments made during 14 consecutive days and answers questions about hire purchase and other payments; children aged 7 to 15 keep a simplified diary. The respondents also give detailed information, where appropriate, about income (including cash benefits received from the state) and payments of Income Tax. Information on age, occupation, education received, family composition and housing tenure is also obtained. The survey is continuous, interviews being spread evenly over the year to ensure that seasonal effects are covered. The Family Spending publication also includes an outline of the survey design.

The HFS data used in this analysis are grossed so that totals reflect the total population of private households in the UK. The weights are produced in two stages. First, the data are weighted to compensate for non-response (sample-based weighting). The non-response weights are then calibrated so that weighted totals match population totals for males and females in different age groups and for different regions and countries (population-based weighting). The results in the analysis are weighted so that statistics represent the total population in private households in the UK based on 2011 Census data. In 2013/14, an additional calibration to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) employment totals was also applied.

There are a number of different measures of income used, the most common of which is probably household disposable income. This is the total income households receive from employment (including self-employment), income from private pensions, investments and other sources, plus cash benefits (including the state pension), minus direct taxes (including income tax, NI and council tax). Income is normally analysed at the household level as this provides a better measure of people's economic well-being; while income is usually received by individuals, it is normally shared with other household members (e.g. spouse/partner and children).

In 2018/19 a further adjustment was applied to the data to adjust for the under coverage and under-reporting of income of the richest individuals. This method is often referred to as the 'SPI adjustment' owing to its use of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC's) Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI). For further details please see the ETB Quality and Methodology Information webpage and the Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income Technical Report.

Data Sources

The Household Finances Survey (HFS) is the source of the microdata on households from 2018 onwards. Previously, the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF) was the data source. Derived variables are created using information from HFS and control totals from a variety of different government sources including the United Kingdom National Accounts (ONS Blue Book), HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Transport, Department of Health, Department for Education and Employment, and Department for Communities and Local Government.

Secure Access version

A Secure Access version of the ETB is available from the UK Data Archive under SN 8253, subject to stringent access conditions. The Secure Access version includes variables that are not included in the standard End User Licence (EUL) version, including case number, age and economic position of chief economic supporter, and government office region. Users are strongly advised to check whether the EUL version is sufficient for their needs before considering an application for the Secure Access version.