A total 32.3 million people are projected to pay income tax in the current tax year, a rise from 31.2 million taxpayers in the 2017/18 tax year, new HMRC data has revealed.

HMRC stated that the 31.2 million taxpayers in 2017/18 paid a combined total of £181bn in income tax.
 
The data also showed that the top 50% of taxpayers received 75% of total national income, while paying 91% of income tax.
 
The top 1% of earners received 13% of total national income and paid 29% of income tax. HMRC also revealed the average salary for that group was £175,000.

Hargreaves Lansdown personal finance analyst, Sarah Coles, commented: “The taxman scoops up £181bn of our income before it even makes it into our pockets – and that’s before HMRC starts dipping in again for everything from VAT to fuel duty.

“And while raising the tax thresholds has kept the number of income taxpayers relatively steady for the past decade, there are still around two and a half times the number of higher rate taxpayers than there were 30 years ago.

“Income tax is structured to hit higher earners harder, but you don’t have to be on mega-bucks to pay a hefty chunk of your salary in tax. On average, basic rate taxpayers hand over almost 10p in every pound they earn to the taxman in income tax alone and higher rate taxpayers almost 22p.

“Most people are keen to pay their fair share of tax, but nobody wants to pay over the odds. So it’s worth considering some simple steps that could legally help bring your tax bill down to something less eye-watering.”

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