PAYE receipts surge in 2023-24

Recent HMRC figures show that UK workers contributed a total £235.4bn in PAYE income tax in 2023-24 an increase of 11.4% compared to the 2022-23 total of £211.3 billion.

This is the third consecutive year of PAYE growth and the highest rate of PAYE contributions in the past 20 years according to research from the Global Payroll Alliance (GPA). It also means that since 2004 total annual contributions have grown by 117%. Further the figures show that PAYE accounts for 86% of all income tax contributions and 28.4% of all tax receipts.

A key reason for PAYE contributions hitting an all-time high is the UK’s employment rate says the GPA. Since 2021 the number of over-16s in employment has increased by 2.1% while the employment rate between ages 16 and 64 has increased by 0.5%. In addition employment...