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UK annual tax receipts hit record high with 9.9% increase

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HMRC has provisionally collected £786.6bn in taxes for 2022/23, an increase of 9.9% (£71.1bn) from the year before. 

HMRC’s latest statistics show that cash receipts were higher mainly from income tax, capital gains tax and NICs (an additional £47bn), business taxes (£17.5bn) and VAT (£2bn).

In percentage terms, receipts were higher from business taxes (a 26% increase), inheritance tax (17%), income tax, capital gains tax and NICs (12%) and environmental taxes (10%).

IHT receipts for 2022/23 totalled £7.1bn, £1bn higher than in the same period a year earlier. The increase is said to be due to a combination of higher volumes of wealth transfers that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, recent rises in asset values, and the government’s March 2021 decision to maintain the IHT tax free thresholds at their 2020/21 levels up to and including 2025/26.

Mike Hodges, partner at Saffery Champness, said that the government’s decision to freeze IHT thresholds, amongst numerous other reliefs and allowances, was clearly starting to bear fruit. ‘The practical upshot is that more and more estates will continue to face an inheritance tax bill, with the effect of the recent freezes exacerbated still further by the fact that the nil rate bank has not changed since 2009,’ he said. 

‘The fact that on the same day it’s announced that UK government borrowing in the same 2022/23 tax year was significantly less than forecast, some may argue that the frozen IHT thresholds are becoming an increasingly disproportionate measure and, with inflation continuing to remain high, one that will feel fairly punitive for any families swept into its net,’ Hodges added. ‘If this trend continues, we may see it becoming harder for the chancellor to resist the suspicion that he is looking to build a war chest for some tax giveaways before the next election.’

Receipts for APD continue to rise following the lifting of travel restrictions but remain below levels before the Covid-19 pandemic. They stood at £3.2bn for 2022/23, £2.2bn higher than in the same period a year earlier.

Overall receipts for stamp taxes (including ATED) are £19.3bn, which is £0.7bn higher than in the same period a year earlier. 
Issue: 1616
Categories: News
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