VAT Error Cuts UK Borrowing by £2 Billion in Fiscal Year to Date

Chancellor given £2bn Budget boost after VAT error sees borrowing revised down

The ONS admitted that errors in VAT data meant that government borrowing estimates have been over-stated by between £200 million and £500 million. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been given an extra £2 billion wriggle room in her upcoming Budget after it was revealed that official Government borrowing figures have been overstated due to inaccurate data on VAT receipts. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) admitted that borrowing for the current…

VAT Error Cuts UK Borrowing by £2 Billion in Fiscal Year to Date

UK borrowing in the first five months of the financial year was £2 billion ($2.7 billion) lower than previously thought after the tax office found an error in its VAT receipt data, the Office for National Statistics said.

Reprieve for Reeves as ONS data error cuts borrowing by £3bn

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been handed a rare reprieve ahead of the Budget after a data error reported by the UK’s statistics authority reduced expected public borrowing by £3bn. A mistake in the counting of value added tax receipts by tax collector HMRC was identified in an update by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Correcting for the error reduces public sector net borrowing by between £200m and £500m per month within the period aff…