This is how much sixty of the UK’s wealthiest people paid in income tax
Sixty of the UK’s wealthiest people contributed more than £3bn a year in income tax in the 2021/22 financial year, the latest year for which figures are available.
According to a report by the BBC, these sixty taxpayers – who each earned at least £50m in 2021/22 – paid 1.4 per cent of the UK’s total income tax take despite making up just 0.0002 per cent of the tax base.
The figures, which were revealed thanks to a freedom of information request, demonstrate the large contribution made by the UK’s richest individuals.
It comes as the government considers the extent to which it can increase taxes on the wealthy without encouraging them to move elsewhere.
Stuart Adam, a senior economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told the BBC that this was a serious concern for Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
“Some of the tax changes that have been speculated are very concentrated on those at the top of the income distribution,” he said.
In the upcoming Budget, Reeves will confirm details of Labour’s pre-announced tax rises and will likely announce further measures to help put the public finances on surer ground.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested that the government would target those with “the broadest shoulders” in the Budget.
In recent weeks the government has reportedly watered down its planned raid on non-doms after official analysis suggested that the measure may end up costing the Treasury money.
A study from Oxford Economics, which polled 72 non-doms and over 50 tax advisors, found nearly two thirds of people with the tax status are planning to leave the UK within the next two years.
Further measures, such as an increase to capital gains tax and reforms to inheritance tax, are also under consideration, but these may also make the UK a less attractive place for the very wealthy.
A recent report from the Adam Smith Institute suggested that the number of UK millionaires would fall by 20 per cent before 2028, making it an international outlier.