I'm starting to lose track but that's now jobs, inflation, retail sales, and now public finances data that have encountered a cock up? Geez. The HMRC is out with a note that it has identified an error in VAT cash receipts, which impacts its reporting from April 2025 to August 2025 (though ONS cites the impacted period to their calculations stretching back to January). Sure, the ONS isn't entirely at fault here but it's still not a good look. HMRC notes that:
"The impact is an upward revision of VAT cash receipts by £2.4 billion (approximately 3% of year-to-date VAT receipts)."
Overall, it means that public sector net borrowing in the current and previous financial years is a combined £3 billion lower. As per the ONS:
"Correcting for the error reduces public sector net borrowing by between 200 million pounds and 500 million pounds per month within the period affected, resulting in a reduction in borrowing of 1 billion pounds for the financial year ending March 2025 and a reduction of 2 billion pounds for the financial year to date."
Clown fiesta. 🤡
