Official Statistics

Structural tax relief statistics (December 2024)

Updated 5 December 2024

1. About this publication

‘Structural’ tax reliefs are integral parts of the tax system and have various purposes, such as to define the scope of the tax or calculate income or profits correctly. This publication provides Official Statistics on estimated costs of structural tax reliefs where these are available and lists the structural tax reliefs where estimates are not available and explains why. These estimates where possible provide costs from outturn years 2019 to 2020 up to 2023 to 2024 and forecasts for the current tax year 2024 to 2025.

For a full list of estimated structural reliefs and their associated cost (where available), see the accompanying statistical tables:

• table 1: Estimated cost of structural tax reliefs

• table 2: List of structural tax reliefs where cost estimates are unavailable

Within each table the reliefs are also categorised by the taxes to which they apply, for example, Income Tax and Corporation Tax. Reliefs which apply to more than one tax are in a tab called ‘Multiple tax types’. This publication has been updated to better align with HMRC’s central management of tax reliefs, meaning it focuses on the non-structural tax reliefs.

For more information on ‘non-structural’ reliefs, see the latest non-structural reliefs publication. For more information on the difference between structural and non-structural reliefs as well as further detail on the methodology used for this release, see the accompanying quality and methodology information report.

The figures in this publication are estimates of the amount of relief which is claimed and subsequently granted each tax year in £ million. They do not represent the gain to the Exchequer should a relief be abolished and do not explicitly model additional behavioural responses and wider economic impacts which could result from changes to the reliefs, nor do they consider interactions with other reliefs.

2. Methodology and quality assurance

In December 2023 we published a new accompanying quality and methodology information report for all tax reliefs statistics (structural and non-structural). We have now updated this for December 2024. For information on the data and methods used to produce estimates within this bulletin and the accompanying statistical tables, please see accompanying quality and methodology information report.

We are committed to continuously improving the Official Statistics we publish. A panel, led by senior HMRC analysts, was set up in 2018 to review the methodology of reliefs on a rolling basis. Our quality assurance processes were reviewed in October 2020 and we have in place checks to minimise the risk of error and a rigorous quality assurance review process. The publication is also peer-reviewed by different team members and overseen by senior analysts including the team’s senior statistician.

In May 2022 we published a new background quality report for the tax relief statistics.

3. Annex - Revisions since December 2023 publication

Each year the estimates are updated for a number of reasons including:

• new outturn data received into the department from tax returns (for some taxes there can be a substantial delay in taxation, e.g., inheritance tax)

• return data (or other data sources) being received due to the nature of that particular regime

• improvements to methodology behind collecting information or forecasting the estimates

• including the latest OBR economic forecasts in HMRC forecast models where possible

The revisions table below shows the reasons for changes in estimates of structural tax reliefs, which is largely due to incorporation of the latest available data. The following table includes commentary on any large changes in the figures since the previous publication. For our purposes large changes are defined as those greater than £500 million or 25 per cent.

Table 1: Summary of revisions to structural tax relief cost estimates since December 2023

Name	Code	Tax type	Reason for change
Betting and gaming and lottery duties	VAT - S1	VAT	Updated for latest data.
Education	VAT - S4	VAT	Updated for latest data.
Finance and insurance	VAT - S5	VAT	Updated for latest data.
Health Services	VAT - S6	VAT	Updated for latest data.
Local Authority-type bodies of VAT incurred on non-business purchases under the Section 33 refund scheme (includes academies, museums and galleries under the Section 33A refund scheme)	VAT - S7	VAT	Updated for latest data.
Farming etc averaging of profits	IT - S9	Income Tax	Updated for latest data.
Part Exchange Relief	SDLT - S5	Stamp Duty Land Tax	Updated for latest data.
Exemption for Cabin Crew	APD - S1	Air Passenger Duty	Updated methodology. The cost of the relief has changed compared to previous estimates due to methodological changes improving accuracy and updated CAA data for calculating exempt passengers and average passengers per flight.
Tied oils scheme (Industrial Relief Scheme)	HOD - S1	Hydrocarbon Oil Duties	Updated for latest data. The rounding convention has changed compared to last time. Figures exceeding £1bn are now rounded to the nearest £100m rather than nearest £10m. This change makes it seem as though there have been back series revisions to the costing estimates. The only figures that have changed since the last costing are the 2022/23 and 2023/24 estimates. 2024/25 estimates were not previously produced.
Exemption for building (‘dimension’) stone	AL - S1	Aggregates Levy	Updated for latest data. There has being an update of new data which has replaced the previous forecast.
Relief for aggregate exported from the UK	AL - S2	Aggregates Levy	Updated for latest data. There has being an update of new data which has replaced the previous forecast.
Exemption of energy supplies not used as fuel	CCL - S2	Climate Change Levy	Updated for latest data.
Supply of taxable commodities not for burning or consuming in the UK	CCL - S4	Climate Change Levy	Updated for latest data.
Coal, Lignite and Slate	AL - S3	Aggregates Levy	Updated for latest data. There has being an update of new data which has replaced the previous forecast.
Maternity allowance	IT - S15	Income Tax	Updated for latest data.
Personal allowance	IT - S17	Income Tax	Updated for latest data.
Exemption for individuals over State Pension Age	NIC - S2	NICs	Updated for latest data.
Primary Threshold	NIC - S4	NICs	Other. Reduction due to recent NICs rate changes.
Reduced contributions for self-employed not attributable to reduced pensions eligibility but otherwise in line with underlying source movement	NIC - S5	NICs	Other. Time series impacted by recent changes to NICs rates and thresholds.
Secondary Threshold	NIC - S6	NICs	Updated for latest data.
Double Taxation Relief CT	CT - S1	Corporation Tax	Updated for latest data. The changes in the estimates are largely due to the availability of new outturn data for 2022/23. The growth in DTR claims from 2021/22 to 2022-23 was lower than forecast last year. This lower than expected outturn, along with a lower forecast growth in foreign income (in accordance with the latest OBR determinants) reduces the forecast for 2023/24. The significant increase in the forecast from 2022-23 to 2023-24 reflects the increase in the CT rate from 19% to 25% in 2023-24.
Capital allowances (includes Annual Investment Allowance, Ring-fence oil and gas trade, first-year capital allowances for plant and machinery)	IT_CT - S2	Income Tax and Corporation Tax	Updated for latest data.
Double taxation relief	IHT - S2	Inheritance Tax	Updated for latest data.
Nil rate band for chargeable transfers not exceeding the threshold for estates left on death	IHT - S4	Inheritance Tax	Updated for latest data.
Loss on sale of land	NA	Inheritance Tax	Updated for latest data.
Loss on sale of shares	NA	Inheritance Tax	Updated for latest data.
Tax relief for decommissioning expenditure	PRT - S2	Petroleum Revenue Tax	Updated for latest data.
British Government securities where owner not resident in UK	IT - S5	Income Tax	Updated for latest data.
Homeworkers Allowance	NA	Income Tax	Updated for latest data.