Capital Gains Tax receipts for 2025 fall 8.4% to £13.65 billion

HM Revenue and Customs data released today showed that Capital Gains Tax receipts for 2025 were £13.646 billion, down from £14.900 billion in 2024 – a fall of 8.4 per cent.

Jason Hollands, managing director at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners, comments:

‘This marked decrease in Capital Gains Tax receipts indicates that taxpayers are swerving this and the previous Government’s crackdown on capital gains by sitting tight and deferring disposals, suggesting the futility of over-taxing investors and business owners.

‘The 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. This 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.

‘Investors – and CGT receipts - have had time to absorb the slashing of the CGT annual exemption from £12,300 in 2022/23 to just £3,000 in 2024/25 under the previous Conservative government. Sure enough, the receipts data reveals little or no benefit to the Treasury coffers from this step. Final revenue data shows that CGT brought in £16.93 billion in 2022/23, £14.50 billion in 2023/24 and just £13.06 billion in 2024/25 – and these latest receipts figures suggest that downward trend could continue.

‘Indeed, the only significant consequence is likely to have been distorting and disincentivising effects on investment and business decisions.

‘The rest of this year’s CGT take is worth watching as it will start to reveal the effects on investors and business owners of the Chancellor’s 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.[1] With 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. So 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.

‘In summary, the data does not bode well for the Chancellor’s hopes that her CGT rate hikes will bolster the public purse over the coming years.

‘While taxing investors more heavily on gains from capital they have put at risk does not seem to work as a revenue raiser, what it does risk is discouraging entrepreneurialism and investment, which the country needs to boost growth. Any future move to bring CGT rates closer to income tax rates – a move supported by some MPs on the left - would be deeply unwise, acting as a drag on investment, business activity and growth, but also failing to bring in significant new revenues.’  

NOTES  

[1] Rachel Reeves increased CGT rates with immediate effect on 30 October 2024 from 10% to 18% for basic rate taxpayers and 20% to 24% for those on the higher rates of tax.  
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk