Capital gains tax revenues jumped in January, with HMRC collecting nearly £17bn – a rise of 69% on the same month last year – amid higher rates and tighter allowances.
Figures show receipts for January 2026 were up from just over £10bn a year earlier, while the total take between April 2025 and January 2026 reached £18.8bn, compared with £11.9bn in the corresponding period of 2024.
The increase came alongside record January self-assessment income tax receipts of £29.4bn. CGT rates were raised from 10% and 20% to 18% and 24% from 30 October 2024, following earlier reductions to the annual exempt amount to £3,000, with frozen thresholds bringing more gains into charge.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, described the latest figures as “eye-popping”.
“Capital gains tax receipts were just a whisper below £17bn in January – a sign that allowance cuts and rate hikes are showing their teeth,” Morrissey said.
Alex Ranahan, tax reporting analyst at FSL, suggested much of the tax may relate to disposals made ahead of the October 2024 rate increase.
“My suspicion is that the majority of the tax will be owed to transactions taken before the Autumn Budget in anticipation of tax rises,” he said.
Rising home values push more families into inheritance tax ‘without realising it’
