Apprentices: Taxation
(asked on 19th July 2022) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the (1) total amount raised from employers, (2) total value of unspent funds in employers' digital voucher accounts at year end, and (3) total value of funds which expired unspent, in each financial year since the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy.
Details of the total value of apprenticeship levy paid by employers each month is published by HMRC in their Tax & National Insurance Contributions receipts publication, which can be found online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk.
Employers in England who pay the apprenticeship levy don’t use digital vouchers, but access funds for apprenticeship training by registering for an apprenticeship service account. The funds in employers’ accounts reflect the ‘English percentage’ of an employer’s levy contribution and include a 10% top-up from the government. Figures for the total value of levy balances in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts at the financial year end can be found in the table below:
Total value of levy balances at financial year (FY) end | ||||
FY 2017-18 | FY 2018-19 | FY 2019-20 | FY 2020-21 | FY 2021-22 |
£1,988 | £3,745 | £4,430 | £4,706 | £4,987 |
The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy-paying employers to use for 24 months before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. Employers began to pay the apprenticeship levy in April 2017 and unused levy funds began to expire in May 2019. Figures for the funds which have expired from employers' levy accounts are shown in the table below:
Expired (Rounded £Million) | ||
FY 2019-20 | FY 2020-21 | FY 2021-22 |
£847 | £1,314 | £1,315 |
The department’s annual apprenticeship budget for England is set by HM Treasury and, although closely linked, is distinct from the total levy income collected. The levy has been set at a level to fund demand for apprenticeships in employers of all sizes.
We do not anticipate that all employers who pay the levy will need or want to use all the funds available to them, but they are able to if they wish. As well as funding new apprenticeships in levy-paying employers, income from the levy funds new apprenticeships in employers that do not pay the levy, existing apprentices that started in previous years, English and maths tuition for apprentices and additional payments to employers, providers and apprentices.