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Statistics about personal incomes

Statistics about UK taxpayers, their income, and the Income Tax they are liable for.

The Survey of Personal Incomes

Statistics about personal incomes are assessed using the annual Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI). The SPI is based on information held by HMRC about individuals who could be liable for UK Income Tax and covers income that can be assessed for tax for each tax year. Data for the SPI is sampled from HMRC administrative systems. Most tables exclude individuals who are not taxpayers unless otherwise stated.

Supporting documentation on the methodology used to produce these statistics is available in the release for each tax year.

Note: comparisons over time may be affected by changes in methodology. Notably, there was a revision to the grossing factors in the 2018 to 2019 publication, which is discussed in the commentary and supporting documentation for that tax year. Further details, including a summary of significant methodological changes over time, data suitability and coverage, are included in the background quality report.

Release schedule

These statistics are published annually, usually in February or March. You can find the release dates on the HMRC national statistics release schedule. Any changes to the publication date will also be announced there.

Income Tax liabilities and distributions

HMRC also produce statistics on Income Tax liabilities and receipts. Use these to find out:

  • how much tax is paid and collected by HMRC in any given year, and how tax is collected
  • detailed breakdowns of the number of people paying Income Tax and the distribution of Income Tax liabilities across taxpayers and tax bands

HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK

HMRC also produce statistics on tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK. Use these to find out:

  • monthly receipts for the last four tax years from tax and duties, National Insurance Contributions, and fines and penalties that HMRC are responsible for administering
  • analysis on observed trends in tax receipts

PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) Statistics

Earnings and employment statistics of payrolled employees and their pay from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) data. This is a joint release between HMRC and the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Scottish and Welsh Income Tax Outturn Statistics

HMRC also produce statistics on Scottish and Welsh Income Tax Outturn Statistics. These statistics provide information on the Scottish Income Tax (SIT) and Welsh Rates of Income Tax (WRIT) outturn. This covers non-savings non-dividends (NSND) Income Tax for Scottish and Welsh taxpayers.

ONS guide to sources of data on income and earnings

This guide outlines the different data sources and outputs that feed into the analysis of income and earnings within the UK. It explains important information for each data source, including what data are available and the sources’ main uses, strengths and limitations.

Contact details

If you want to give feedback on these statistics, please contact:

D Ali

Email: spi.enquiries@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

Archived tax years

Tables for tax years 2009 to 2010 and earlier can be found on the National Archives website.

Latest Publication

Accredited Official Statistics of the Survey of Personal Incomes.

The publications in this series include summary, commentary, supporting documents and collated tables 3.1 to 3.11, and collated geography tables 3.12 to 3.15a for the latest tax year.

Individual Tables

Accredited Official Statistics of the Survey of Personal Incomes.

The personal income tables in this series include breakdowns by sex, age, income and tax distribution, income source, country and geographical area. They are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) which is an annual sample of administrative data from HMRC records. The statistics covered in these tables are available for the latest published tax year to tax year 2010 to 2011.

Previous publications

Accredited Official Statistics of the Survey of Personal Incomes.

The publications in this series include summary, commentary, supporting documents and collated tables 3.1 to 3.11, 3.16 and 3.17 and collated geography tables 3.12 to 3.15a for previous tax years dating back to 2010-2011.

Background Quality Report - Information about our Personal Income Statistics

Background Quality Report - Information about our statistics update for the tax year 2023 to 2024