A Treasury plan to bolster the public purse through higher taxes seems to have backfired.
New figures show that the amount of capital gains tax (CGT) paid has plummeted from £14.6 billion in 2022-23 to £12.1 billion the year after. This is despite rule changes that were designed to raise more tax.
The number of taxpayers caught in the CGT net did however edge up from 376,000 to 378,000, according to HM Revenue & Customs data.
Lizzie Murray from the London tax firm Saffery said: “The figures present a slight paradox: while increasing numbers have been forced to pay tax, the actual amount paid to the government has dropped significantly compared with previous years.
“So although the rule changes brought more people into the scope of CGT, taxpayers appear to be actively managing their affairs to reduce their tax bills under the new regime.”
