Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest recorded (1) numbers of self-employed, (2) numbers of self-employed recorded in income tax records, and (3) annual turnover of self-employed in income tax records.

The number of individuals filing a self-employment schedule in their Self Assessment tax returns for the year 2011-12 is estimated at 5.49 million.

The annual turnover of these individuals in 2011-12 is estimated at £296 billion.

These estimates are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI) for the year 2011-12.

Further information about the self-employed is available in HMRC’s National Statistics Publications^[1].

^[1] Available at the following internet address: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-income-by-tax-year