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40% of the growth in the UK’s workforce since 2008 has come from people working for their own business. IFS researchers are using administrative tax records to learn more about the self-employed and company owner-managers, including their characteristics, how these groups have been changing in recent years and how they respond to the tax system.
This presentation was given as part of the event 'Self-employment and entrepreneurship: lessons from tax records and challenges for policy'.
Authors

Deputy Director
Jonathan is a Deputy Director and Head of Retirement, Savings and Ageing, focusing on pensions, savings and later-life economic activity.
Presentation details
- DOI
- 10.1920/ps.ifs.2024.0499
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
Cribb, J. (2018). 'Trends in profits of self employed sole traders: evidence from tax data' [Presentation]. London: IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/trends-profits-self-employed-sole-traders-evidence-tax-data (accessed: 17 July 2025).
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