Jeremy Hunt’s tax raid nets Treasury extra £4.6bn in June, ONS public finance figures reveal

Jeremy Hunt’s tax raids netted the Treasury an extra £4.6bn last month compared with June 2022 as income tax receipts surged.

The Chancellor brought in £57.3bn of tax receipts in June, with income tax revenues up £2bn, corporation tax up £1.6bn and VAT up £1bn, according to figures published this morning by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The increases helped the government borrow less than expected last month, with income ahead of forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The freeze on tax thresholds at a time of high inflation means that workers are paying more tax on their earnings, even though those pay packets do not stretch as far as they did a year ago in the face of rampant price rises.

At the same time employment has grown strongly, meaning more people are in a position to pay income tax and national insurance contributions.

Similarly VAT revenues grow as prices rise, because it is charged at 20pc of transactions.

The Government borrowed £18.5bn last month. This is down £0.4bn on June 2022, but is still the third highest for any June since the ONS’s comparable records began in 1993.

Debt interest payments cost £12.5bn, a high figure by historical standards, in part because around one-quarter of the national debt is linked to inflation. However this is still down from June 2022’s high of £20bn. Inflation has been falling in recent months.

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