The values of any financial assets held including both formal investments, such as bank or building society current or saving accounts, investment vehicles such as Individual Savings Accounts, endowments, stocks and shares, and informal savings.

In 2025/26, the government of the United Kingdom is expected to receive 1.2 trillion British pounds of public sector current receipts, with 329 billion British pounds coming from income tax, as well as 214 billion pounds from VAT. Other substantial sources of income include Corporation Tax, predicted to raise 105 billion pounds, and Council Tax, which will raise around 50 billion pounds. Government revenue falls short of spending Overall government revenue in 2023/24 amounted to approximately 1.13 trillion pounds, but with the government spending around 1.28 trillion pounds, the UK borrowed almost 152 billion pounds to cover its costs. As a consequence, the UK's national debt increased from 2.69 trillion pounds in 2022/23, to 2.81 trillion pounds in 2023/24, almost 100 per cent of GDP. Financing this debt is becoming increasingly burdensome for UK government finances, with the UK spending more on debt interest than on defence, transport, and public order and safety. Impact of COVID-19 on revenue sources Income received from some of the UK's typical revenue sources were severely depleted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018/19, for example, VAT raised around 132.5 billion pounds, with receipts falling to 129.9 billion pounds in 2019/20, and just 101.7 billion pounds in 2020/21. Corporation Tax, fell from 61.6 billion pounds in 2019/20, to 50.5 billion pounds in 2020/21, while revenue from Air Passenger Duties declined from 3.64 billion pounds in 2019/20, to just 590 million pounds in 2020/21, and just over one billion pounds in 2021/22.

75% of households from the Bangladeshi ethnic group were in the 2 lowest income quintiles (after housing costs were deducted) between April 2021 and March 2024.

In the 3 years to March 2021, black households were most likely out of all ethnic groups to have a weekly income of under £600.

Public sector net debt amounted to 95.8 percent of gross domestic product in the United Kingdom during the 2024/25 financial year, or 90 percent when the Bank of England is excluded. UK government debt is at its highest levels since the early 1960s, due to a significant increase in borrowing during the COVID-19 pandemic. After peaking at 251.7 percent shortly after the end of the Second World War, government debt in the UK gradually fell, before a sharp increase in the late 2000s at the time of the global financial crisis. Debt not expected to start falling until 2029/30 In 2024/25, the UK's government expenditure was approximately 1.28 trillion pounds, around 44.7 percent of GDP. This spending was financed by 1.13 trillion pounds of revenue raised, and 151 billion pounds of borrowing. Although the UK government can still borrow money in the future to finance its spending, the amount spent on debt interest has increased significantly recently. Recent forecasts suggest that while the debt is eventually expected to start declining, this is based on falling government deficits in the next five years. Government facing hard choices Hitting fiscal targets, such as reducing the national debt, will require a careful balancing of the books from the current government, and the possibility for either spending cuts or tax rises. Although Labour ruled out raising the main government tax sources, Income Tax, National Insurance, and VAT, at the 2024 election, they did raise National Insurance for employers (rather than employees) and also cut Winter Fuel allowances for large numbers of pensioners. Less than a year after implementing cuts to Winter Fuel, the government performed a U-Turn on the issue, and will make it widely available by the winter of 2025.

In 2025/26, the budgeted expenditure of the United Kingdom government is expected to be reach 1,335 billion British pounds, with the highest spending function being the 379 billion pounds expected to be spent on social protection, which includes pensions and other welfare benefits. Government spending on health was expected to be 277 billion pounds and was the second-highest spending function in this fiscal year, while education was the third-highest spending category at 146 billion pounds. UK government debt approaching 100 percent of GDP At the end of the 2024/25 financial year, the UK's government debt amounted to approximately 2.8 trillion British pounds, around 96 percent of GDP that year. This is due to the UK having to borrow money to cover its spending commitments, especially at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when this deficit amounted to 314.6 billion pounds. Without significant cuts to spending or tax rises, the current government is aiming to reduce this debt by creating a stronger, more productive economy. Though this is how Britain's post WW2 debt was reduced, the country faces far more structural problems to growth than it did in the mid 20th century. Income Tax the UK's main revenue source Income Tax is expected to raise approximately 329 billion British pounds in the 2025/26 financial year, and be the largest revenue source for the government that year. Value Added Tax (VAT) receipts are expected to raise 214 billion pounds, with National Insurance contributions reaching 199 billion pounds. Although National Insurance rates for employees has actually fallen recently, the rate which employers pay was one of the main tax rises announced in the Autumn 2024 budget, rising from 13.8 percent to 15 percent. Though this avoided raising tax for workers directly, many UK businesses were critical of the move, with taxation seen as the main issue facing them at the start of 2025.

The monthly average yield on three, six, and 12 month British government bonds in the United Kingdom (UK) all increased towards the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. By February 2025, the yield on three-month government bonds reached **** percent, compared to *** percent in January 2022. This still represents a decrease compared to the peaks of ********* percent registered throughout the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024.

United Kingdom UK: Broad Money: % of GDP data was reported at 148.452 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 142.300 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Broad Money: % of GDP data is updated yearly, averaging 56.932 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 166.414 % in 2010 and a record low of 30.454 % in 1979. United Kingdom UK: Broad Money: % of GDP data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Money Supply. Broad money (IFS line 35L..ZK) is the sum of currency outside banks; demand deposits other than those of the central government; the time, savings, and foreign currency deposits of resident sectors other than the central government; bank and traveler’s checks; and other securities such as certificates of deposit and commercial paper.; ; International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics and data files, and World Bank and OECD GDP estimates.; Weighted average; The derivation of this indicator was simplified in September 2012 to be current-year broad money divided by current-year GDP times 100.

Advani, Hughson and Tarrant (2021) model the revenue that could be raised from an annual and a one-off wealth tax of the design recommended by Advani, Chamberlain and Summers in the Wealth Tax Commission’s Final Report (2020). This deposit contains the code required to replicate the revenue modelling and distributional analysis. The modelling draws on data from the Wealth and Assets Survey, supplemented with the Sunday Times Rich List, which we use to implement a Pareto correction for the under-coverage of wealth at the top.Around the world, the unprecedented public spending required to tackle COVID-19 will inevitably be followed by a debate about how to rebuild public finances. At the same time, politicians in many countries are already facing far-reaching questions from their electorates about the widening cracks in the social fabric that this pandemic has exposed, as prior inequalities become amplified and public services are stretched to their limits. These simultaneous shocks to national politics inevitably encourage people to 'think big' on tax policy. Even before the current crisis there were widespread calls for reforms to the taxation of wealth in the UK. These proposals have so far focused on reforming existing taxes. However, other countries have begun to raise the idea of introducing a 'wealth tax'-a new tax on ownership of wealth (net of debt). COVID-19 has rapidly pushed this idea higher up political agendas around the world, but existing studies fall a long way short of providing policymakers with a comprehensive blueprint for whether and how to introduce a wealth tax. Critics point to a number of legitimate issues that would need to be addressed. Would it be fair, and would the public support it? Is this type of tax justified from an economic perspective? How would you stop the wealthiest from hiding their assets? Will they all simply leave? How can you value some assets? What happens to people who own lots of wealth, but have little income with which to pay a wealth tax? And if wealth taxes are such a good idea, why have many countries abandoned them? These are important questions, without straightforward answers. The UK government last considered a wealth tax in the mid-1970s. This was also the last time that academics and policymakers in the UK thought seriously about how such a tax could be implemented. Over the past half century, much has changed in the mobility of people, the structure of our tax system, the availability of data, and the scope for digital solutions and coordination between tax authorities. Old plans therefore cannot be pulled 'off the shelf'. This project will evaluate whether a wealth tax for the UK would be desirable and deliverable. We will address the following three main research questions: (1) Is a wealth tax justified in principle, on economic or other grounds? (2) How should a wealth tax be designed, including definition of the tax base and solutions to administrative challenges such as valuation and liquidity? (3) What would be the revenue and distributional effects of a wealth tax in the UK, for a variety of design options and at specified rates/thresholds? To answer these questions, we will draw on a network of world-leading exports on tax policy from across academia, policy spheres, and legal practice. We will examine international experience, synthesising a large body of existing research originating in countries that already have (or have had) a wealth tax. We will add to these resources through novel research that draws on adjacent fields and disciplines to craft new solutions to the practical problems faced in delivering a wealth tax. We will also review common objections to a wealth tax. These new insights will be published in a series of 'evidence papers' made available directly to the public and policymakers. We will also publish a final report that states key recommendations for government and (if appropriate) delivers a 'ready to legislate' design for a wealth tax. We will not recommend specific rates or thresholds for the tax. Instead, we will create an online 'tax simulator' so that policymakers and members of the public can model the revenue and distributional effects of different options. We will also work with international partners to inform debates about wealth taxes in other countries. The modelling draws on data from the Wealth and Assets Survey, supplemented with the Sunday Times Rich List, which we use to implement a Pareto correction for the under-coverage of wealth at the top.

Annual estimates of UK regional gross disposable household income (GDHI) at current prices for ITL1, ITL2 and ITL3 regions.

In 2024/25 the value of tax receipts for the United Kingdom amounted to approximately 840 billion British pounds. Tax receipts form the bulk of UK government income, based on various direct and indirect taxes. Although tax income has gradually increased throughout most of this period, there is a noticeable dip in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tax revenue sources Of the revenue generated by taxation in 2024/25, over 301 billion of this came from Income Tax receipts, which was the main source of direct tax income for the government. After income tax, the next most substantial direct tax were contributions from National Insurance, which amounted to just over 172.5 billion pounds of tax revenue. The UK's main goods and services tax; Value-added Tax (VAT) amounted to 170.6 billion pounds, while Corporation Tax receipts raised 91.6 billion pounds. Although other smaller direct and indirect taxes produce notable income, these four sources were by far the main sources of income in the previous financial year. UK government finances While taxes and other sources of income raised more than 1.13 trillion pounds in 2024/25, the UK government expenditure was around 1.28 trillion pounds. This gap between revenue and expenditure was financed via government borrowing, which amounted to almost 152 billion pounds. As the UK government has been spending more than it earns for several years, this has resulted in a significant government debt of 2.8 trillion pounds building up, the equivalent of just under 96 percent of GDP in 2024/25.

UK: BoP: Current Account: Secondary Income: General Government: Current Taxes on Income, Wealth: Credit data was reported at 183.140 USD mn in Dec 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 170.169 USD mn for Sep 2017. UK: BoP: Current Account: Secondary Income: General Government: Current Taxes on Income, Wealth: Credit data is updated quarterly, averaging 194.751 USD mn from Mar 1999 (Median) to Dec 2017, with 76 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 342.973 USD mn in Sep 2006 and a record low of 117.876 USD mn in Jun 2001. UK: BoP: Current Account: Secondary Income: General Government: Current Taxes on Income, Wealth: Credit data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by International Monetary Fund. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.IMF.BOP: BPM6: Balance of Payments: Detailed Presentation.

United Kingdom UK: Central Government Debt: Total: % of GDP data was reported at 116.856 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 106.728 % for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Central Government Debt: Total: % of GDP data is updated yearly, averaging 44.132 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 116.856 % in 2016 and a record low of 29.195 % in 1991. United Kingdom UK: Central Government Debt: Total: % of GDP data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Government Revenue, Expenditure and Finance. Debt is the entire stock of direct government fixed-term contractual obligations to others outstanding on a particular date. It includes domestic and foreign liabilities such as currency and money deposits, securities other than shares, and loans. It is the gross amount of government liabilities reduced by the amount of equity and financial derivatives held by the government. Because debt is a stock rather than a flow, it is measured as of a given date, usually the last day of the fiscal year.; ; International Monetary Fund, Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, and World Bank and OECD GDP estimates.; Weighted average;

Background

This analysis was conducted as part of a university module to compare age with socio-economic group in the UK and investigates unemployment levels with deprivation in England.

Content

The dataset includes the English Indices of Deprivation 2015 and the 2011 UK census data.

The English indices of deprivation measures relative deprivation in small areas in England called lower-layer super output areas. The index of multiple deprivation is the most widely used of these indices. More information can be found on the government website here. The Index of Multiple Deprivation ranks every small area in England from 1 (most deprived area) to 32,844 (least deprived area) and ranks them according to the following measures:

Income Deprivation Employment Deprivation Education, Skills and Training Deprivation Health Deprivation and Disability Crime Barriers to Housing and Services Living Environment Deprivation By including the 2011 UK census data and a lookup table (for combining the datasets) it is possible to see how age and gender corresponds to areas of deprivation.

Acknowledgements

All data has been made freely available by the UK Government and can be accessed here. It is strongly recommended that the guidance notes for this dataset are read before performing any analysis.

Between 2018 and 2022, people in households in the ‘other’, Asian and black ethnic groups were the most likely to be in persistent low income, both before and after housing costs, out of all ethnic groups.

Health Poverty Index - Root Causes: Wealth

Source: Department of Health (DoH), Valuation Office Agency, Land Registry

Publisher: Health Poverty Index

Geographies: Local Authority District (LAD), National

Geographic coverage: England

Time coverage: 2001

Type of data: Administrative data

Notes: The figures exclude business premises but include composite dwellings (properties used for both domestic and business purposes).

United Kingdom UK: Broad Money: to Total Reserves Ratio data was reported at 25.806 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 27.956 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Broad Money: to Total Reserves Ratio data is updated yearly, averaging 14.962 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 71.784 % in 2008 and a record low of 3.593 % in 1977. United Kingdom UK: Broad Money: to Total Reserves Ratio data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Money Supply. Broad money (IFS line 35L..ZK) is the sum of currency outside banks; demand deposits other than those of the central government; the time, savings, and foreign currency deposits of resident sectors other than the central government; bank and traveler’s checks; and other securities such as certificates of deposit and commercial paper.; ; International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics and data files.; ;