Tax revenue – where it comes from (2)

This is part 2 of this section on tax revenue.  Data contained in a House of Commons (HoC) library report shows the tax receipts for the year 2024/25.  The main elements are: Income tax £306 billion, VAT £173 billion and National Insurance contributions £171 billion.

 

 

Tax	£ Billion	% share
Income tax	306	30.3
VAT	173	17.1
NICs	171	16.9
Other taxes	100	9.9
Corporation tax	98	9.7
Council tax	47	4.7
Capital taxes	41	4.1
Business rates	29	2.9
Fuel duty	24	2.4
Tobacco and alcohol	20	2.0
Total	1009	100.0

[House of Commons Library, 2026]

 

A more detailed breakdown of tax receipts is available from Tax Policy UK.  This provides a more granular breakdown. [Figures vary from the HoC report].

 

Taxes on businesses totalled £99.6 billion (10.4%), of which the biggest component was accounted for by Corporation tax at £93.2 billion.

 

Tax	£ Billion	% share
Corporation tax	93.2	9.8
Energy profits levy	2.5	0.3
Bank taxes	2.3	0.2
Digital services tax	0.9	0.1
Electricity generator levy	0.7	0.1
Total	99.6	10.4

 

 

Various taxes can be regarded as taxes on goods which create pollution or as in the case of the Renewables obligation and Contracts for difference to encourage more sustainable forms of energy generation.  Fuel duty is the biggest element of this group accounting for £24.4 billion in 2024-25.  Altogether, environmental taxes totalled £41.3 billion or 4.3% of total revenue.

 

Tax	£ Billion	% share
Fuel duty	24.4	2.6
Renewables obligation	7.8	0.8
Air passenger duty	4.1	0.4
Contracts for difference	2.3	0.2
Climate change levy	1.8	0.2
Landfill tax	0.5	0.1
Plastic packaging	0.3	0.0
Scottish landfill tax	0.1	0.0
Total	41.3	4.3

 

 

 

Taxes on activities which are deemed to have negative impacts on health (and provide a ready source of revenue), totalled £24 billion or 2.5% of the total revenue.  Taxes on alcohol were be the largest component constituting half of the total.

 

 

Tax	£ Billion	% share
Alcohol	12.5	1.3
Tobacco	7.9	0.8
Gaming	3.6	0.4
Total	24	2.5

 

Sources

Keep, M., (10th March 2026), Tax Statistics: an overview. House of Commons Library.

 

Neidle, D., (28 May 2026), 90 UK taxes. On one chart.  https://taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/05/28/90-uk-taxes/