Paul Haywood-Schiefer, assistant manager at Blick Rothenberg, said: ‘Individuals under the self-assessment tax regime are due a second tax payment on account each year on 31 July. Some people make their payments early, some on time and some a little later, so to get the true picture, you need to look at the three months around the payment on account date.

‘The total take during the three month period was £9.528bn. This result is good, as the tax take from self-assessment is half a billion higher than last year.’

Overall, self assessment receipts are up 15.24% since September 2016, with just over £29bn taken during this period.

HMRC data also shows that NICs receipts have grown over the last 12 months by 8.63% and stamp duty land tax (SDLT) by 14.03%. In its analysis, HMRC points out that April 2016 represented the largest single month of SDLT receipts since the tax's introduction in 2003, and is partly explained by forestalling activity ahead of the introduction of the higher rate of SDLT on additional residential properties. Receipts for April to August 2017 are 14.2% higher for stamp taxes than in the same period last year.

However, the greatest increase is in corporation tax which has grown by 17.23% in the same period, with just under an additional £7.75bn of additional receipts taken in that time. Total tax receipts now sit at £581bn in the last 12 months.

HMRC Tax and NIC Receipts information and analysis for August is here.

Report by Pat Sweet