The largest proportion of tax receipts came from employment taxes paid by both employers and employees, which contributed £31.4bn to the public purse and accounted for 43.5% of the taxes from study participants.

Corporation tax payments increased from £8.4bn in 2016 to £11.6bn, the second highest tax contribution from participants in the study (14.9%). The data includes the bank surcharge for the first time, which generated a total of £1.1bn.

VAT, ranked as the third highest tax on financial firms, accounted for 14% of the total. Additional taxes, such as stamp duties and business rates, made up the rest of the tax-take. The latest corporation tax figures from HMRC show that financial sector receipts increased by 23%, from £7.1bn in 2015-16 to £8.7bn in 2016-17. Bank Levy receipts decreased from £3.4bn in 2015-16 to £3.0bn in 2016-17.

Bank Surcharge is a new tax introduced from 1 January 2016. Receipts were £22m in 2015-16. 2015-16 receipts were relatively low because most banks are not due to pay it until 2016-17. In 2016-17 Bank Surcharge receipts were £1.1bn.

Te research based on analysis of tax liabilty at 50 financial services companies, which PwC has extrapolated to estimate that the financial services sector in the UK made a total tax contribution of around £72.1bn in the year to 31 March 2017.

The figure is an increase of 1% on the tax paid last year (£71.4bn) and equates to 11% of all government receipts.

The data was collected from a number of domestic and foreign banks, insurers and asset managers and other financial firms based in the UK from 1 April 2016 to March 31 2017, according to research by PwC for the City of London Corporation.

Catherine McGuinness, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation, said: ‘With Brexit edging ever closer, it is more important than ever to underline just how important the financial services sector is to the rest of the economy.

‘The amount of tax paid by the sector in just one year could pay for around half of the annual NHS budget, or the lion’s share of the UK’s education budget.

‘While it’s too early to gauge how the country’s tax-take might suffer if firms chose to move business away from the UK, these findings highlight how vital it is to meet the urgent needs of the sector as part of negotiations.’

PwC’s research indicates the UK’s financial services sector currently employs over 3% of the country’s workforce, accounts for 7% of output and pays for 11% of total public spending.

While London has the bulk of the jobs (32.7%), firms taking part in the study reported that Scotland (13.6%) and the South East (12.4%) employ significant numbers of financial services workers. Northern regions also account for a high number of the country’s financial sector workforce, with the North West (9.4%) coming in as the fourth biggest employer and Yorkshire & Humber ranking fifth (7.5%).

Andrew Kail, head of financial services at PwC, said: ‘London will remain one of the most important and attractive international centres for financial services and global business.

‘However, the financial firepower of the UK’s regions is also put into sharp relief by this year’s report. To underpin this great performance, there must be a strong supply of local talent with the relevant skills, competitive costs and high productivity.

‘But in order to flourish further, the sector deserves a simplification of the tax regime to support stability and international attractiveness.’

Total Tax Contribution of UK Financial Services is here. , according to research by PwC for the City of London Corporation

Report by Pat Sweet