In what could be a record year for tax receipts, the new tax year kicked off with the government taking £75.4bn in total taxes in April 2024. This was £4.2bn more than the £71.2bn collected in April 2023 and up £9bn on last month’s £66.6bn.

With soaring tax bills and frozen thresholds, the April 2024 total was comparable with pre-Covid January figures when all the self assessment tax bills were paid.

In April 2019, pre-pandemic, total tax receipts for the month were £60.8bn, demonstrating a nearly £15bn hike in the monthly receipts.  

Overall, income tax for April reached £27.3bn, up from April 2023 by £2.9bn and a £6bn increase from March.

While two National Insurance contribution (NIC) cuts have brought the rate down to 8%, HMRC has taken £700m more than the previous April, and over £2bn more than in March and February of this year. NICs hit a total of £16.9bn in April, up from £14.3bn last month.

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