In the 2023-24 tax year it is estimated that over 2.7 million individuals will pay tax on cash interest, up by a million in a single year, revealed analysis of HMRC figures by investment platform AJ Bell. In 2020-21 only 800,000 people paid tax on savings.

This year’s predicted total includes nearly 1.4m basic rate taxpayers, a figure which has quadrupled in just four years.

The figures underline the case for increasing the threshold for taxing savings income. AJ Bell estimated that around one in 20 basic rate payers will be paying tax on cash interest, rising to one in six higher rate payers and around half of additional rate payers.