The Chancellor raked in £40 billion more in income tax and national insurance as stealth taxes hit millions of workers, experts warned on Tuesday.
Financial firm Hargreaves Lansdown said receipts from PAYE Income Tax and NIC1 (National Insurance) for April 2022 to March 2023 hit £378.2 billion.
It stressed that this was £40.2 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “There’s no getting away from the fact our tax burden is growing as a series of threshold freezes and cuts kick in.
“We’ve seen receipts for taxes such as inheritance tax, income tax and national insurance on the rise and recent cuts to capital gains tax thresholds will further boost future receipts.”
As Chancellor, Rishi Sunak froze the income tax thresholds in April 2022, which has been extended by his successor Jeremy Hunt until 2027/28, with a similar move for national insurance.
Hargreaves Lansdown also stressed that stamp tax receipts for April 2022 to March 2023 were £19.3 billion, £0.7 billion higher than in the same period a year earlier, with inheritance tax receipts for this period reaching £7.1 billion, £1 billion higher than last year.
Mr Hunt faced calls to cut taxes soon after official figures showed Government borrowing coming in significantly lower than forecast.
It reached £139.2 billion in the year to March, the fourth highest since records began and £18.1 billion more than the previous year.
The Office for National Statistics said the public sector borrowed £21.5 billion last month, £16.3 billion higher than a year ago and the second-highest March borrowing on record due to the soaring cost of energy support schemes.
But most economists had predicted borrowing of £22.8 billion in March.
The annual figure was also £13.2 billion lower than the Office for Budget Responsibility forecast last month, despite the Government forking out £41.2 billion in the past six months to support households and businesses with energy costs.
Mr Hunt said: “These numbers reflect the inevitable consequences of borrowing eye-watering sums to help families and businesses through a pandemic and Putin’s energy crisis.
“We were right to do so because we have managed to keep unemployment at a near-record low and provided the average family more than £3,000 in cost of living support this year and last.
“We stepped up to support the British economy in the face of two global shocks, but we cannot borrow forever. We now have a clear plan to get debt falling which will reduce the financial pressure we pass onto our children and grandchildren.”
But Thatcherite former Cabinet minister John Redwood tweeted: “If the Chancellor now agrees taxes are too high why doesn’t he get on and cut them? That would bring more growth and more revenue.”
Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said: “The news that total borrowing in 2022/23 was £13.2bn lower than the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted only a month ago provides the Chancellor with more wiggle room to cut taxes/raise spending ahead of the next general election, which is due to take place by January 2025.”
