£16.7bn tax receipts increase
HMRC statistics released recently show a considerable spike in total tax receipts say London Chartered Accountants Blick Rothenberg LLP.
Nimesh Shah, partner at the firm, said: “Half of this increase is contributed by Stamp Duty Land Tax (£2.7bn) and VAT (£5.7bn). The other notable contributor is National Insurance (NI) with a take of £2.7bn.
“Whilst more people are in employment, the increase in NI take can also be put down to some targeted anti-avoidance measures introduced by the Government over the last 12 months, such as preventing businesses using UK and offshore employment intermediaries to avoid NI payments.”
Nimesh added: “Total HMRC tax receipts for the 12 months to 30 June 2014 are up 3.5% over the previous year (July 2012-June 2013). This represents a two-fold increase compared to the 12 months prior, and is a result of a series of factors including an improvement in economic growth and several HMRC targeted anti-avoidance measures.”
Shah said that the increase in VAT was due to a number of factors including additional spending in the housing sector, which is further supported by the increase in the number of property transactions over the last 12 months.
