For the month, the tax authority raked in £60.7bn, which was £20bn lower than July 2023 – the fourth highest month on record.

However, between April to August 2023, total tax receipts hit £331.1bn, which was £19.8bn higher than in the same period last year.

Tax receipts from income tax, capital gains tax (CGT) and national insurance contributions (NICs) totalled £33.6bn, down from £46.8bn the previous month, due to the July income tax payment dates for self employed and businesses which always pushes up tax take.

Receipts for income tax alone stood at £19.4bn for the month, down from £30.2bn in July 2023.

HMRC raked in a total of £644m for inheritance tax (IHT), up £41m on the previous month’s total of £603m. Receipts for IHT between April to August 2023 totalled £3.2bn, which was £300m higher than in the same period a year earlier.

Stev