The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation tax, petroleum revenue tax and stamp duty. More recently, the Inland Revenue also administered the Tax Credits schemes,[1] whereby monies, such as Working Tax Credit (WTC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC), are paid by the Government into a recipient's bank account or as part of their wages. The Inland Revenue was also responsible for the payment of child benefit.
The Inland Revenue was merged with HM Customs and Excise to form HM Revenue and Customs which came into existence on 18 April 2005.[2] The former Inland Revenue thus became part of HM Revenue and Customs. Colloquially, especially among those not in the youngest taxpaying bracket, 'Revenue and Customs' has not yet widely replaced the former name. An inexorable uptake in correct usage has been ensured in the expression 'from Revenue and Customs' in a series of high profile annual radio, and to a lesser extent, television public information broadcasts in the 2000s and 2010s.