Official Statistics

6. Tax gaps: Other taxes

Updated 19 June 2025

Other taxes, levies and duties

Summary

The ‘other taxes’ gap is estimated using 6 components:

• Stamp Duty Land Tax gap, based on an illustrative methodology using receipts, avoidance, and reliefs data
• Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap, based on an illustrative methodology using receipts data
• Inheritance Tax gap, based on an established bottom-up statistical methodology
• Petroleum Revenue Tax gap estimates between 2005 to 2006 and 2014 to 2015. This is not estimated from 2015 to 2016 as it was permanently zero rated from 1 January 2016
• Landfill Tax gap, based on an illustrative methodology using receipts, compliance data, and unauthorised waste site data
• ‘Other taxes, levies and duties’ gap: this includes Aggregates Levy, Air Passenger Duty, Climate Change Levy, Customs Duty, Digital Services Tax, Insurance Premium Tax, Plastic Packaging Tax and Soft Drinks Industry Levy; the other taxes, levies and duties gap is based on an illustrative methodology using a weighted average of the overall tax gap

To evaluate the uncertainty of our ‘other taxes’ gap, we assign an uncertainty rating for each component, ranging from ‘very low’ to ‘very high’.

• the estimates for the Inheritance Tax gap, Landfill Tax gap and Stamp Duty Land Tax gap have ‘high’ uncertainty
• the other taxes, levies and duties gap and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap have ‘very high’ uncertainty

More information on the tax gap uncertainty assessment can be found in the ‘Methodological annex’.

Figure 6.1 shows the ‘other taxes’ gap time-series in absolute terms and relative to theoretical liabilities.

The ‘other taxes’ gap is estimated to be 4.2% of the ‘other taxes’ theoretical liabilities, or £1.9 billion in absolute terms, in the 2023 to 2024 tax year.

There has been an increase in the ‘other taxes’ gap from 4.0% in 2005 to 2006 to 4.2% in 2023 to 2024, with some fluctuations in the intervening years.

Figure 6.1: ‘Other taxes’ gap by value and as a percentage of theoretical tax liability, 2005 to 2006 up to 2023 to 2024

Notes for Figure 6.1:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

Figure 6.2 shows the tax gaps for the ‘other taxes’ gap components: Stamp Duty Land Tax, Stamp Duty Reserve Tax, Inheritance Tax, Petroleum Revenue Tax, Landfill Tax and ‘other taxes, levies and duties’. Compared to the other ‘other taxes’ gap components, the estimate for Landfill Tax gap as a proportion of theoretical tax liabilities is the highest across the time-series since the 2014 to 2015 tax year. Stamp Duty Reserve Tax has consistently been the lowest estimate across the time-series.

The Stamp Duty Land Tax gap has reduced from 3.2% in 2005 to 2006 to 2.3% in 2023 to 2024, with a notable decline from 3.3% in 2011 to 2012 to 1.4% in 2013 to 2014.

The Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap has been stable across the time-series at around 1.0%.

The Inheritance Tax gap has increased from 2.9% in 2005 to 2006 to 3.9% in 2023 to 2024. It reached a peak of 8.3% in 2013 to 2014.

The Petroleum Revenue Tax gap was stable at around 2.0% until it was zero-rated in 2015 to 2016.

The Landfill Tax gap increased from 3.3% in 2005 to 2006 to a peak of 29.5% in 2018 to 2019. Since 2018 to 2019 it has reduced to 22.6% in 2023 to 2024.

The ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ gap has decreased from 7.4% in 2005 to 2006 to 5.3% in 2023 to 2024.

Figure 6.2 Other duty gap as a percentage of total theoretical tax liabilities

Notes for Figure 6.2:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Main findings

The Stamp Duty Land Tax gap is based on an illustrative methodology using receipts, avoidance, and reliefs data.

Figure 6.3 shows the Stamp Duty Land Tax gap time-series in absolute terms and relative to theoretical Stamp Duty Land Tax liability.

The Stamp Duty Land Tax gap is 2.3% of the theoretical Stamp Duty Land Tax liability, or £275 million in absolute terms, in the 2023 to 2024 tax year.

The Stamp Duty Land Tax gap has reduced from 3.2% in 2005 to 2006 to 2.3% in 2023 to 2024.

The Stamp Duty Land Tax gap was stable around 3.3% between 2005 to 2006 and 2011 to 2012. The lower Stamp Duty Land Tax gap from 2012 to 2013 compared to previous years is mainly due to a change in methodology.

Figure 6.3: Stamp Duty Land Tax gap by value and as a percentage of theoretical tax liabilities, 2005 to 2006 up to 2023 to 2024

Notes for Figure 6.3:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £25 million.

3. Percentage figures are rounded to the nearest 0.1%.

Figure 6.4 shows the Stamp Duty Land Tax gap, tax liability, and the theoretical liability, which is the sum of the tax gap and tax liability, since 2019 to 2020.

The Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts has varied between £275 million and £375 million in the years between 2019 to 2020 and 2023 to 2024.

The Stamp Duty Land Tax liabilities declined from £11.6 billion in 2019 to 2020 to £8.7 billion in 2020 to 2021. Since 2020 to 2021 liabilities have increased from £8.7 billion to £11.6 billion in 2023 to 2024.

Figure 6.4: Stamp Duty Land Tax gap, tax liability and theoretical tax liability (£ million), since 2019 to 2020

Year	Net tax gap	Liability	Total theoretical tax liability
2019-20	375	11,600	12,000
2020-21	275	8,700	8,900
2021-22	300	14,100	14,400
2022-23	325	15,400	15,700
2023-24	275	11,600	11,900

Notes for Figure 6.4:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures for the tax gap are rounded to the nearest £25 million while the liability is rounded to the nearest £100 million.

3. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

4. Liability refers to the actual amount expected to be received by HMRC based on taxpayer declarations and HMRC’s compliance activity.

Revisions

Figure 6.5 shows the revisions to the Stamp Duty Land Tax gap since the publication of the ‘Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition’.

The Stamp Duty Land Tax gap has revisions from 2018 to 2019 due to revisions to data on amount and counts of Stamp Duty Land Tax reliefs claimed, used to estimate the amount improperly claimed.

Figure 6.5: Revisions to Stamp Duty Land Tax gap since the ‘Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition’

Notes for Figure 6.5:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. MTG stands for ‘Measuring tax gaps’.

Stamp Duty Reserve Tax

Main findings

The Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap is based on an illustrative methodology using receipts data.

Figure 6.6 shows the Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap time-series in absolute terms and relative to theoretical Stamp Duty Reserve Tax liability.

The Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap is 1.0% of theoretical Stamp Duty Reserve Tax liability, or £30 million in absolute terms, in the 2023 to 2024 tax year.

The Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap is assumed to be constant across the time-series between the tax years 2005 to 2006 and 2023 to 2024 at 1.0% of total theoretical liabilities.

Figure 6.6: Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap by value and as a percentage of theoretical tax liability, 2005 to 2006 up to 2023 to 2024

Notes for Figure 6.6:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £10 million.

Figure 6.7 shows the Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap, tax liability, and the theoretical liability, which is the sum of the tax gap and tax liability, since 2019 to 2020.

The net tax gap has decreased from £40 million to £30 million between the tax years 2019 to 2020 and 2023 to 2024 due to the assumption that the tax gap is approximately 1% of Stamp Duty Reserve Tax liability. Stamp Duty Reserve Tax liability declined from £3.6 billion in 2019 to 2020 to £3.2 billion in 2023 to 2024.

Figure 6.7: Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap, tax liability and theoretical tax liability (£ million), since 2019 to 2020

Year	Net tax gap	Liability	Total theoretical tax liability
2019-20	40	3,600	3,700
2020-21	40	3,700	3,700
2021-22	40	4,400	4,400
2022-23	40	3,800	3,800
2023-24	30	3,200	3,200

Notes for Figure 6.7:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures for the tax gap are rounded to the nearest £10 million while the liability is rounded to the nearest £100 million.

3. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

4. Liability refers to the actual amount expected to be received by HMRC based on taxpayer declarations and HMRC’s compliance activity.

Revisions

There are no revisions to the methodology for the Stamp Duty Reserve Tax gap since the publication of the ‘Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition’.

Inheritance Tax

Main findings

Figure 6.8 shows the Inheritance Tax gap time-series in absolute terms and as a percentage of theoretical Inheritance Tax liability.

The Inheritance Tax gap is 3.9% of the theoretical Inheritance Tax liability, or £0.3 billion in absolute terms, in 2023 to 2024.

The Inheritance Tax gap has increased from 2.9% in 2005 to 2006 to 3.9% in 2023 to 2024. It reached a peak of 8.3% in 2013 to 2014.

Figure 6.8: Inheritance Tax gap by value and as a percentage of theoretical tax liabilities, 2005 to 2006 up to 2023 to 2024

Notes for Figure 6.8:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion.

3. Percentage figures are rounded to the nearest 0.1%.

Figure 6.9 shows the Inheritance Tax gap, tax liability, and the theoretical liability, which is the sum of the tax gap and tax liability, since 2019 to 2020.

The net Inheritance Tax gap has been broadly stable between £0.2 billion and £0.4 billion since 2019 to 2020. Inheritance Tax liability has increased from £5.1 billion to £7.1 billion and the total theoretical liability has increased from £5.5 billion to £7.4 billion in the last five years.

Figure 6.9: Inheritance Tax gap, tax liability and theoretical tax liability (£ billion), since 2019 to 2020

Year	Net tax gap	Liability	Total theoretical tax liability
2019-20	0.4	5.1	5.5
2020-21	0.2	5.3	5.5
2021-22	0.4	6.1	6.4
2022-23	0.2	7.1	7.3
2023-24	0.3	7.1	7.4

Notes for Figure 6.9:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion.

3. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

4. Liability refers to the actual amount expected to be received by HMRC based on taxpayer declarations and HMRC’s compliance activity.

Revisions

Figure 6.10 shows the revisions to the Inheritance Tax gap since the publication of the ‘Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition’.

Estimates have been updated based on the most recent compliance data. We have also made methodological improvements to the projection of open compliance cases. This has led to revisions across the time-series.

Figure 6.10: Revisions to Inheritance Tax gap since the ‘Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition’

Notes for Figure 6.10:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. MTG stands for ‘Measuring tax gaps’.

Petroleum Revenue Tax

Main findings

The Petroleum Revenue Tax gap is not calculated from 2015 to 2016 as it has been zero rated from 1 January 2016.

The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

An illustrative indicator of the tax gap from Petroleum Revenue Tax for previous years was produced using the expert opinion of Petroleum Revenue Tax specialists. Given the narrowly defined base of the tax (limited to oil-producing fields developed before April 1993) and the small number of businesses involved, a range of between 1% and 3% of theoretical tax liabilities was used to calculate an illustrative tax gap. This produced an estimated tax gap of less than £10 million in the tax year 2014 to 2015.

Landfill Tax

Main findings

The Landfill Tax gap is based on an illustrative methodology using receipts, unauthorised waste sites, and compliance data.

Figure 6.11 shows the Landfill Tax gap time-series in absolute terms and relative to theoretical Landfill Tax liabilities.

The Landfill Tax gap is 22.6% of the theoretical Landfill Tax liability, or £150 million in absolute terms, in the 2023 to 2024 tax year.

There has been an increase in the Landfill Tax gap from 3.3% in 2005 to 2006 to 22.6% in 2023 to 2024. There is a notable peak in the Landfill Tax gap in 2018 to 2019 due to the introduction of unauthorised waste sites into the scope of Landfill Tax legislation.

Figure 6.11: Landfill Tax gap by value and as a percentage of theoretical tax liability, 2005 to 2006 up to 2023 to 2024

Notes for Figure 6.11:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £25 million.

3. Percentage figures are rounded to the nearest 0.1%.

Figure 6.12 shows the Landfill Tax gap, tax liability, and the theoretical liability, which is the sum of the tax gap and tax liability, since 2019 to 2020.

The net Landfill Tax gap decreased from £200 million in 2019 to 2020 to £150 million in 2023 to 2024. Landfill Tax liabilities have been broadly stable between £500 million and £700 million in the last 5 years. The total theoretical liability has decreased from £800 million to £600 million.

Figure 6.12: Landfill Tax gap, tax liability, and theoretical tax liability (£ million), since 2019 to 2020

Year	Net tax gap	Liability	Total theoretical tax liability
2019-20	200	600	800
2020-21	125	600	700
2021-22	150	700	800
2022-23	125	600	700
2023-24	150	500	600

Notes for Figure 6.12:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures for the tax gap are rounded to the nearest £25 million while the figures for liability are rounded to the nearest £100 million.

3. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

4. Liability refers to the actual amount expected to be received by HMRC based on taxpayer declarations and HMRC’s compliance activity.

Revisions

Figure 6.13 shows the revisions to the Landfill Tax gap since the publication of the ‘Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition’.

The Landfill Tax gap time series has revisions from 2018 to 2019 due to updated unauthorised waste sites data from the Environment Agency.

There has also been an update to Landfill Tax compliance data in recent years.

Figure 6.13: Revisions to Landfill Tax gap since the ‘Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition’

Notes for Figure 6.13:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. MTG stands for ‘Measuring tax gaps’.

Other taxes, levies and duties

Main findings

The ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ gap captures the duty gap of other taxes, levies and duties that do not currently have standalone models in the ‘Measuring tax gaps’ publication, namely Aggregates Levy, Air Passenger Duty, Climate Change Levy, Customs Duty, Digital Services Tax, Insurance Premium Tax, Plastic Packaging Tax and Soft Drinks Industry Levy.

Limitations in data or methods available means it is difficult to estimate these components individually, which is why an aggregated estimate is produced under ‘other taxes, levies and duties’.

The ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ gap is based on an illustrative method, whereby a proxy indicator for the scale of revenue losses across ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ has been produced by estimating the weighted average percentage of the overall tax gap each year and applying this to receipts in ‘other taxes, levies and duties’.

The average percentage revenue losses should not be considered estimates of the true percentage losses across Aggregates Levy, Air Passenger Duty, Climate Change Levy, Customs Duty, Digital Services Tax, Insurance Premium Tax, Plastic Packaging Tax and Soft Drinks Industry Levy, as this is unknown. Many of these taxes are very different from one another in nature and are, therefore, subject to different rules. The true tax gaps are therefore likely to vary across the taxes.

Figure 6.14 shows the ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ gap time series in absolute terms and relative to ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ total theoretical liabilities.

The other taxes, levies and duties gap is 5.3% of the theoretical ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ liability, or £1.1 billion in absolute terms, in the 2023 to 2024 tax year.

There has been a reduction in the ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ gap from 7.4% in 2005 to 2006 to 5.3% in 2023 to 2024.

The ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ gap varies across the time series due to changes in the overall tax gap used as part of the weighted average in the methodology.

Figure 6.14: Other taxes, levies and duties gap by value and as a percentage of theoretical tax liabilities, 2005 to 2006 up to 2023 to 2024

Notes for Figure 6.14:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion.

3. Percentage figures are rounded to the nearest 0.1%.

4. Plastic Packaging Tax was introduced on 1 April 2022 and forms part of the ‘Other taxes, levies and duties’ estimates from 2022 to 2023.

Figure 6.15 shows the ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ gap, tax liability and the theoretical liability, which is the sum of the tax gap and tax liability, since 2019 to 2020.

The net tax gap decreased from £1.0 billion in 2019 to 2020 to £0.7 billion in 2020 to 2021, and then increased to £1.1 billion in 2023 to 2024.

Figure 6.15: ‘Other taxes, levies and duties’ gap, tax liability and theoretical tax liability (£ billion), since 2019 to 2020

Year	Net tax gap	Liability	Total theoretical tax liability
2019-20	1.0	16.1	17.1
2020-21	0.7	12.3	13.0
2021-22	0.9	15.5	16.4
2022-23	1.2	19.6	20.8
2023-24	1.1	20.3	21.4

Notes for Figure 6.15:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion.

3. Figures may not sum due to rounding.

4. Liability refers to the actual amount expected to be received by HMRC based on taxpayer declarations and HMRC’s compliance activity.

5. Plastic Packaging Tax was introduced on 1 April 2022 and forms part of the ‘Other taxes, levies and duties’ estimates from 2022 to 2023.

Revisions

Figure 6.16 shows the revisions to the ‘other taxes, levies and duties’ gap since the publication of the ‘Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition’.

The other taxes, levies and duties gap has revisions across the time-series due to changes within the overall tax gap that form a part of the weighted average used within the methodology.

Figure 6.16: Revisions to other taxes, levies and duties gap since the ‘Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition’

Notes for Figure 6.16:

1. The full data series can be seen in the online tables.

2. MTG stands for ‘Measuring tax gaps’.

3. Plastic Packaging Tax was introduced in 1 April 2022 and forms part of the ‘Other taxes, levies and duties’ estimates from 2022 to 2023.