The latest research by finance expert, RIFT, has revealed that over the reign of the last seven prime ministers, the UK is paying the most tax now under Rishi Sunak at £2.2bn per day and since 1997, having paid a total of £9.74trn in tax under Conservative governments.
RIFT analysed total HMRC cash receipts during the tenure of the last seven prime ministers, from Tony Blair through to Rishi Sunak, adjusting for inflation to reveal the amount of tax paid by the nation, per day, under each PM.
The research shows that in total, the UK has paid out £9.74trn under Conservative PMs since David Cameron was elected in May 2010, equating to £1.9bn per day over the last 14 years.
Under the previous two Labour PMs, Blair and Brown, the UK paid out a total of £7.7trn, or £1.6bn per day between May 1997 and June 2007.
During Gordon Brown’s tenure as prime minister, we paid £1.773bn per day in tax, more than both his predecessor Tony Blair (£1.584bn per day) and his successor David Cameron (£1.713bn per day).
However, since Theresa May took power in July 2016, the daily tax paid by the UK has been climbing steadily, averaging £1.986bn per day under May, £2bn a day under Boris Johnson and £2.148bn a day under Liz Truss.
But it’s the current PM under which the UK is forking out the most tax, paying out £2.255bn per day under current PM Rishi Sunak.
Bradley Post, MD of RIFT, said, “Taxation is always going to be a hot topic as we approach another general election and tax cuts, as well as how they will be funded, will be an area of scrutiny for all parties in the running.
We’ve seen the daily amount of tax paid by the UK increase under the last four consecutive Conservative prime ministers and so it will be interesting to see if their latest plans intend to reverse this trend.
While inflation has now been tamed, the cost of living remains substantial for UK households and so voters will no doubt be particularly keen to hear how the next party in power plan to help them when it comes to making ends meet.”
