From Monday 3 November over 24 million people will start receiving their first Annual Tax Summary from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which breaks down exactly how their tax is spent by the Exchequer.
8 million taxpayers who complete self-assessment returns will be able to access their tax summary online, while the 16 million PAYE taxpayers who received a tax coding notice from HMRC for 2013 to 2014 will receive their summary in the post over the next seven weeks.
The summaries were first announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at Budget 2012 in a move to make tax more transparent and easier to understand. They will set out how much tax and National Insurance each person paid in the previous year and how it contributed to public expenditure.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said: ‘I promised that taxpayers would know much more about how much direct tax they pay and how that money is spent.
‘Now we’re delivering on that promise by giving 24m taxpayers a new personal tax summary.
‘It is a revolution in transparency and it will show how hardworking taxpayers have to pay for what governments spend.’
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At Budget 2012 the Chancellor announced that around 20 million taxpayers would receive a tax summary detailing how their 2013 to 2014 tax year income tax and National Insurance contributions have been calculated.
In April this year the Chancellor announced that 4 million more people than previously announced would receive the summary. The additional people are PAYE taxpayers who have had recent contact from HMRC setting out their tax calculation for an earlier tax year. These might be people with more complicated or changing circumstances such as a new job.
There are 29.9 million income taxpayers in the UK. Any taxpayer who does not receive a tax summary can use HMRC’s tax calculator to estimate their tax bill and see how it contributes to public spending. The app can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple app store or Google Play by searching ‘HMRC tax calculator’.
