The government received 8.4% less in Capital Gains Tax receipts in 2025 despite tax rises, HM Revenue and Customs data has found.<\/p>\n
The annual exemption from the tax has risen from \u00a312,300 in 2022\/23 to \u00a33,000 in 2024\/25.<\/p>\n
In the October 2024 Budget meanwhile the lower rate of Capital Gains Tax was raised from 10% to 18%, while the higher rate climbed from 20% to 24%.<\/p>\n
However the government received \u00a313.646 billion from capital gains in 2025, falling from \u00a314.9 billion in 2024.<\/p>\n
Jason Hollands, managing director at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, said: \u2018This marked decrease in Capital Gains Tax receipts indicates that taxpayers are swerving this and the previous Government\u2019s crackdown on capital gains by sitting tight and deferring disposals, suggesting the futility of over-taxing investors and business owners.<\/p>\n
\u2018The CGT data from not just today, but the last few years and through history, suggests that investors either bring forward decisions ahead of anticipated changes or are deterred from crystallising gains afterwards, or both.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis exposes the trouble with increasing the CGT burden: investors will change their plans and behaviour accordingly to avoid paying tax where they feel it is too high. In many cases, a more aggressive tax environment leads to lower rather than higher revenues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hollands added: \u201cIndeed, the only significant consequence is likely to have been distorting and disincentivising effects on investment and business decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rest of this year\u2019s CGT take is worth watching as it will start to reveal the effects on investors and business owners of the Chancellor\u2019s increase to CGT rates in her first Budget on 30 October 2024, which saw an immediate rise in CGT rates come into effect that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the exception of non-exempt property disposals where taxable gains need to be reported and CGT paid within 60-days of completion, capital gains on other assets are typically disclosed via self-assessment and tend to lag longer in the data.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo while this receipts data reveals much of the impact of the lower annual exemptions, and higher CGT rates on property investors, January and February 2026 will be the key months to watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn summary, the data does not bode well for the Chancellor\u2019s hopes that her CGT rate hikes will bolster the public purse over the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The government received 8.4% less in Capital Gains Tax receipts in 2025 despite tax rises, HM Revenue and Customs data has found. The annual exemption from the tax has risen from \u00a312,300 in 2022\/23 to \u00a33,000 in 2024\/25. In the October 2024 Budget meanwhile the lower rate of Capital Gains Tax was raised from 10% […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\n