Q. How many income taxpayers are there in the UK?
Q. What percentage of the population pay income tax? |
Sources
HMRC. Table 2.1 Number of individual income taxpayers. Published 30 April 2014. Last updated 25 May 2018 www.gov.uk/government/statistics/number-of-individual-income-taxpayers-by-marginal-rate-gender-and-age |
Population Distribution
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The UK tax system relies on taxpayers contributing some of their earnings to pay for public goods and services. 47% of the UK population is a 'Non-Taxpayer' but this includes all children, students, and the elderly.
While the UK population has been steadily increasing since 1990, the number of Taxpayers has started to level out after a peak in 2006-07. Of the 31 million Taxpayers in 2017-18, 21% are at Pensioner age. Of the 35 million Non-Taxpayers in 2017-18, 48% are 'working age', but this includes everyone between 16 years old and retirement age, so the term is questionable as many from the younger generations will still be in education. |
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Looking at the trends since 1990, the number of Non-Taxpayers decreased to around 30 million in 2000-2006 but has since been increasing gradually, reaching 35 million in 2017-18.
From the lower level breakdown, it can be seen that this is despite a stable number of children and pensioners, so the variations are driven by the number of working age people paying taxes. |
The UK tax-system largely depends on having enough Taxpayers to cover the costs for everyone. There needs to be a balance between those that are contributing to the system and those that need support from it.
Looking at the percentage breakdown over the past few decades, there have been some relatively minor changes to the build up but overall it has stayed roughly the same. The one group where there is a clear trend is the 'Pensioner age taxpayers' group, which has increased from 6% to 11% of the overall population. Conversely, the 'Pensioner age non-taxpayers' group has decreased from 11% to 8%. |
Changes in numbers
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There has been an 80% increase in the number of 'Pensioner Age Taxpayers' since 1990. Whereas, the number of 'Working Age Taxpayers' has only increased by 8%, which is less than the overall population increase of 18%.
On the other hand, there has been a 30% increase in the number of 'Working Age Non-Taxpayers' since 2008, with the number of 'Pensioner Age Non-Payers' gradually decreasing. |