Tax take at highest level for 50 years

TAXES on households and companies have hit their highest level in 50 years, figures reveal.

The tax burden has soared to 34.6 per cent of gross domestic product – surpassing the 34.4 per cent recorded in the early Sixties.

In its 2017 manifesto, the Government promised to keep taxes as low as possible for businesses and working families. But MPs piled criticism on the figures, compiled by The Daily Telegraph and the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

Priti Patel, a former Cabinet minister, said: ‘It’s an embarrassment to this or any government to take so much money from hard-working taxpayers.

‘Lower taxes promote economic freedom which leads to more growth, more jobs and more money in people’s pockets. That is the only – and the Conservative – way forward.’

Owen Paterson, another former Tory Cabinet minister, added: ‘These figures are shocking. High taxes slow economic growth.’

The TaxPayers’ Alliance warned that forecasts indicated tax take is likely to be maintained at the same level over the next five years. A Treasury spokesman said 32million people would in fact see their income tax bill reduced next year.