The total capital gains tax (CGT) figure hit £16.9bn last month reflecting concerns by taxpayers in 2024 that the chancellor would hike rates, when the reality was only a 2% rise, and calls for a wealth tax were quickly stamped out.

This figure has more than doubled since before the pandemic, where CGT raised £7.5bn in January 2020.

The latest CGT payments relate to decisions made by taxpayers in the 2024-25 tax year, and the figure was up an extraordinary £6.9bn in a single month, two thirds up from £10.0bn in January 2025, and £10.6bn the previous year, highlighting how government tax policy influences behaviour.

Even the Treasury will be shocked by the huge spike in CGT – at the 2024 Budget Treasury figures predicted the CGT rate increase would produce only £1.44bn in the first full tax year, then decreasing slightly to £1.37bn in 2026/27, totalling £9.9bn uptick of five years until the end of the parliament. In reality, the CGT tax take figure is likely to be at least four times that by the end of the current tax year on 5 April.

El