{
 "meta": {
  "title": "UK tax burden: where the money comes from",
  "standfirst": "Where the taxes the UK government collects actually come from, and how big a share of the economy the whole tax take now is. HMRC collected about 939 billion pounds in taxes and National Insurance in the 2025 to 2026 financial year, up 9.3 per cent on the year before. On the broader National Accounts measure, which also counts council tax and business rates, total tax is now about 36 per cent of GDP, the highest share since 1951. This page shows where that money is raised and how the tax share of the economy has moved over almost eight decades.",
  "basis": "Two different measures are shown side by side. The composition figures are cash receipts collected by HMRC, the tax authority for most UK taxes: income tax, National Insurance, VAT, corporation tax and the rest. They exclude council tax, business rates and a handful of other levies collected locally or by other bodies. The share of GDP figure is a broader National Accounts measure from the Office for Budget Responsibility that does include those local taxes, which is why it is the standard way of asking whether the overall tax burden is going up or down relative to the size of the economy.",
  "sourceNote": "Computed from HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK (National Statistics), financial year 2025-26, and the OBR Public finances databank, July 2026 edition, National account taxes as a share of GDP, financial years 1948-49 to 2025-26. United Kingdom.",
  "totalReceiptsBn": 939,
  "yoyPct": 9.3,
  "gdpSharePct": 36.0,
  "highestSinceYear": 1951
 },
 "headline": {
  "eyebrow": "The national picture",
  "heading": "A 939 billion pound tax take, at its highest share of the economy since 1951",
  "intro": "HMRC collected about 939 billion pounds in taxes and National Insurance contributions in the financial year 2025 to 2026, up 9.3 per cent on the year before. That is the cash collected by the UK's tax authority, and it does not include council tax, business rates or a few other levies that are collected outside HMRC. Add those in and look at the total against the size of the economy, and total tax was about 36 per cent of GDP in 2025 to 2026 on the Office for Budget Responsibility's National Accounts measure, its highest share since 1951. Four taxes, income tax, National Insurance, VAT and corporation tax, between them raise about 86 per cent of everything HMRC collects.",
  "totalReceiptsBn": 939,
  "yoyPct": 9.3,
  "gdpSharePct": 36.0
 },
 "composition": {
  "eyebrow": "Where the money comes from",
  "heading": "Four taxes raise most of the money",
  "intro": "Income tax is the single biggest source at 328 billion pounds in 2025 to 2026, followed by National Insurance at 201 billion, VAT at 181 billion and corporation tax at 95 billion. Everything else, from fuel and alcohol duties to stamp duty, inheritance tax and dozens of smaller levies, makes up the 71 billion pound long tail below.",
  "rows": [
   {
    "name": "Income Tax",
    "valueBn": 327.8
   },
   {
    "name": "National Insurance contributions",
    "valueBn": 200.7
   },
   {
    "name": "Value Added Tax",
    "valueBn": 180.7
   },
   {
    "name": "Corporation Tax",
    "valueBn": 95.1
   },
   {
    "name": "Capital Gains Tax",
    "valueBn": 24.3
   },
   {
    "name": "Fuel duties",
    "valueBn": 24.2
   },
   {
    "name": "Stamp Duty Land Tax",
    "valueBn": 15.2
   },
   {
    "name": "All other taxes and duties",
    "valueBn": 70.7
   }
  ],
  "bigFourSharePct": 85.7,
  "note": "HMRC tax receipts by financial year, Total HMRC Receipts (\u00a3938.8bn in 2025-26). Sub-components already counted within a parent tax, such as PAYE within income tax, are not counted again. 'All other taxes and duties' is the remainder after the seven named heads, and includes alcohol and tobacco duties, insurance premium tax, air passenger duty, customs duties and other smaller taxes."
 },
 "trend": {
  "eyebrow": "Since the late 1940s",
  "heading": "Close to a post-war high",
  "intro": "On the broader National Accounts measure, which is the one usually used to compare the overall tax burden with the size of the economy, total tax fell from close to 37 per cent of GDP in the years just after the Second World War to a low of about 28 per cent around 1960. It has climbed unevenly since, and in 2025 to 2026 stood at about 36 per cent of GDP, its highest level since 1951.",
  "series": [
   {
    "year": 1948,
    "pct": 37.2
   },
   {
    "year": 1949,
    "pct": 36.9
   },
   {
    "year": 1950,
    "pct": 36.1
   },
   {
    "year": 1951,
    "pct": 34.8
   },
   {
    "year": 1952,
    "pct": 34.0
   },
   {
    "year": 1953,
    "pct": 31.7
   },
   {
    "year": 1954,
    "pct": 30.9
   },
   {
    "year": 1955,
    "pct": 29.6
   },
   {
    "year": 1956,
    "pct": 29.2
   },
   {
    "year": 1957,
    "pct": 28.9
   },
   {
    "year": 1958,
    "pct": 29.5
   },
   {
    "year": 1959,
    "pct": 28.4
   },
   {
    "year": 1960,
    "pct": 27.9
   },
   {
    "year": 1961,
    "pct": 29.8
   },
   {
    "year": 1962,
    "pct": 29.6
   },
   {
    "year": 1963,
    "pct": 28.7
   },
   {
    "year": 1964,
    "pct": 29.1
   },
   {
    "year": 1965,
    "pct": 30.7
   },
   {
    "year": 1966,
    "pct": 31.4
   },
   {
    "year": 1967,
    "pct": 32.6
   },
   {
    "year": 1968,
    "pct": 33.8
   },
   {
    "year": 1969,
    "pct": 35.1
   },
   {
    "year": 1970,
    "pct": 33.7
   },
   {
    "year": 1971,
    "pct": 32.1
   },
   {
    "year": 1972,
    "pct": 29.8
   },
   {
    "year": 1973,
    "pct": 29.8
   },
   {
    "year": 1974,
    "pct": 32.5
   },
   {
    "year": 1975,
    "pct": 33.4
   },
   {
    "year": 1976,
    "pct": 32.8
   },
   {
    "year": 1977,
    "pct": 31.6
   },
   {
    "year": 1978,
    "pct": 30.4
   },
   {
    "year": 1979,
    "pct": 31.2
   },
   {
    "year": 1980,
    "pct": 32.1
   },
   {
    "year": 1981,
    "pct": 34.0
   },
   {
    "year": 1982,
    "pct": 33.7
   },
   {
    "year": 1983,
    "pct": 33.0
   },
   {
    "year": 1984,
    "pct": 33.6
   },
   {
    "year": 1985,
    "pct": 32.6
   },
   {
    "year": 1986,
    "pct": 32.4
   },
   {
    "year": 1987,
    "pct": 31.6
   },
   {
    "year": 1988,
    "pct": 31.1
   },
   {
    "year": 1989,
    "pct": 30.6
   },
   {
    "year": 1990,
    "pct": 30.3
   },
   {
    "year": 1991,
    "pct": 30.2
   },
   {
    "year": 1992,
    "pct": 29.0
   },
   {
    "year": 1993,
    "pct": 28.3
   },
   {
    "year": 1994,
    "pct": 29.3
   },
   {
    "year": 1995,
    "pct": 30.1
   },
   {
    "year": 1996,
    "pct": 29.6
   },
   {
    "year": 1997,
    "pct": 31.0
   },
   {
    "year": 1998,
    "pct": 31.7
   },
   {
    "year": 1999,
    "pct": 32.5
   },
   {
    "year": 2000,
    "pct": 33.0
   },
   {
    "year": 2001,
    "pct": 32.3
   },
   {
    "year": 2002,
    "pct": 31.4
   },
   {
    "year": 2003,
    "pct": 32.2
   },
   {
    "year": 2004,
    "pct": 32.8
   },
   {
    "year": 2005,
    "pct": 33.2
   },
   {
    "year": 2006,
    "pct": 33.6
   },
   {
    "year": 2007,
    "pct": 33.6
   },
   {
    "year": 2008,
    "pct": 32.0
   },
   {
    "year": 2009,
    "pct": 32.2
   },
   {
    "year": 2010,
    "pct": 33.1
   },
   {
    "year": 2011,
    "pct": 33.3
   },
   {
    "year": 2012,
    "pct": 32.7
   },
   {
    "year": 2013,
    "pct": 32.6
   },
   {
    "year": 2014,
    "pct": 32.4
   },
   {
    "year": 2015,
    "pct": 32.6
   },
   {
    "year": 2016,
    "pct": 33.4
   },
   {
    "year": 2017,
    "pct": 33.1
   },
   {
    "year": 2018,
    "pct": 33.6
   },
   {
    "year": 2019,
    "pct": 32.9
   },
   {
    "year": 2020,
    "pct": 33.7
   },
   {
    "year": 2021,
    "pct": 34.7
   },
   {
    "year": 2022,
    "pct": 35.2
   },
   {
    "year": 2023,
    "pct": 34.9
   },
   {
    "year": 2024,
    "pct": 34.5
   },
   {
    "year": 2025,
    "pct": 36.0
   }
  ],
  "startYear": 1948,
  "startPct": 37.2,
  "endYear": 2025,
  "endPct": 36.0,
  "lowYear": 1960,
  "lowPct": 27.9
 },
 "whatchanged": {
  "eyebrow": "The last ten years",
  "heading": "What grew fastest, and what did not",
  "intro": "Total HMRC receipts are up 76 per cent in cash terms over the ten years from 2015 to 2016 to 2025 to 2026, but growth has been very uneven across taxes. Capital Gains Tax grew fastest, up 244 per cent, followed by Insurance Premium Tax and Corporation Tax. Tobacco Duties is the only major tax to fall in cash terms over the decade, down 20 per cent, as smoking has declined.",
  "fastestGrowing": [
   {
    "name": "Capital Gains Tax",
    "startBn": 7.1,
    "endBn": 24.3,
    "growthPct": 244.1
   },
   {
    "name": "Insurance Premium Tax",
    "startBn": 3.3,
    "endBn": 9.0,
    "growthPct": 174.4
   },
   {
    "name": "Corporation Tax",
    "startBn": 43.0,
    "endBn": 95.1,
    "growthPct": 121.1
   },
   {
    "name": "Income Tax",
    "startBn": 168.5,
    "endBn": 327.8,
    "growthPct": 94.6
   }
  ],
  "fastestFalling": [
   {
    "name": "Tobacco Duties",
    "startBn": 9.5,
    "endBn": 7.6,
    "growthPct": -20.2
   },
   {
    "name": "Fuel duties",
    "startBn": 27.6,
    "endBn": 24.2,
    "growthPct": -12.2
   }
  ],
  "decadeTotalGrowthPct": 76.3,
  "note": "Cash terms, not adjusted for inflation, financial year 2015-16 to 2025-26. Limited to taxes that already raised more than 500 million pounds a year in 2015-16, so growth rates are not distorted by new or very small taxes such as the energy profits levy or digital services tax."
 },
 "questions": {
  "eyebrow": "Questions this raises",
  "heading": "For the tax base",
  "items": [
   "The overall tax take is close to its highest share of the economy since the early 1950s. How much further can it rise before it changes economic behaviour, such as work, saving or investment decisions?",
   "Four taxes, income tax, National Insurance, VAT and corporation tax, raise most of the money. How resilient is the tax base if any one of those four weakens?",
   "Capital gains tax and insurance premium tax have grown fastest over the last decade while fuel and tobacco duties have fallen. Is the mix of taxes shifting in ways that were deliberately chosen?",
   "The national debt deep-dive on this site shows debt still climbing even with tax receipts at a post-war high. What does that combination mean for the choices open to any future government?"
  ]
 },
 "sources": [
  {
   "name": "HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK (National Statistics)",
   "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
   "url": "https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk"
  },
  {
   "name": "Public finances databank, July 2026, Office for Budget Responsibility",
   "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
   "url": "https://obr.uk/data/"
  },
  {
   "name": "Economic and fiscal outlook, March 2026, Office for Budget Responsibility",
   "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
   "url": "https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2026/"
  }
 ],
 "caveats": [
  "The composition figures are HMRC cash receipts, when HMRC actually received the money, for taxes HMRC administers. They exclude council tax and business rates, which are collected by local authorities and are covered in the council tax deep-dive on this site, and a small number of other levies collected outside HMRC.",
  "The tax share of GDP figure is a different, broader measure: the Office for Budget Responsibility's National Accounts basis, which does include council tax, business rates and other non-HMRC taxes, and which is measured on an accruals rather than a cash basis. The two totals are not directly comparable pound for pound.",
  "All HMRC figures are for financial years (April to March). The 2025-26 total is reconciled to HMRC's own published headline of 938.8 billion pounds, an increase of 9.3 per cent on the year before.",
  "The GDP share series runs to 2025-26, the latest year treated as outturn in the OBR's July 2026 databank; years from 2026-27 onward in the source file are OBR forecasts and are not shown here.",
  "Growth rates in the what changed section are cash terms, not adjusted for inflation, so part of the rise reflects general price growth rather than a bigger real tax take.",
  "Some tax heads used minor accounting adjustments or were suppressed in the published tables for confidentiality; where a component could not be read from the data it is folded into the all other taxes and duties total rather than estimated.",
  "Source: HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK, and the OBR public finances databank, July 2026."
 ]
}