Brits paid billions more in taxes over the last year as HMRC ramped up tax collection 

The British population paid more in taxes in 2021-2022 as HM Revenue and Customs collected £718.2bn in taxes, a near 23 per cent rise from the year before.

Total HMRC tax receipts for April 2022-May 2022 were £121.9bn, according to HMRC data released today. These were £14.8bn higher compared to the same period last year even as the country grappled with a cost-of-living crisis.

Tax collection fell to £584.5bn in 2020-2021 as Covid-19 hit the economy and the government rolled out policies to support businesses and people affected by the pandemic.

Tax receipts as a proportion of GDP were 30.4 per cent in 2021-2022, up from 27.3 per cent in 2020 to 2021. 

Annual tax receipts and receipts as a proportion of GDP have steadily increased since tax year 2012-2013, save for 2020-2021, when they fell during the pandemic.

Over the past year, receipts from Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, and National Insurance Contributions in total made up 56 per cent of annual tax receipts. Receipts for these in the tax year 2021-2022 increased to £395.8bn from £348.3bn the year before. 

Receipts for Value Added Tax (VAT) rose to £157.3 billion over the past year from £101.6 billion in 2020-2021.

Business taxes, which included Corporation Tax, Petroleum Revenue Tax, and Digital Services Tax, were at £68.6bn in 2021-2022, 2.9 per cent as a proportion of GDP, “reflecting a strong economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic,” HMRC said. This was an increase from £54.6bn in 2020-2021.