TAX BURDEN AT HIGHEST LEVEL FOR 50 YEARS

Households pay more than at any time since 1969

BriTAin is facing the highest tax burden since the days of Harold Wilson as the Treasury squeezes more cash out of families and businesses.

The exchequer is expected to rake in £737.4bn of tax revenue in 201819, up from £699.7bn last year, driven by higher payments from workers due to the country’s jobs miracle.

it will mean the overall tax take is equivalent to 34.6pc of Britain’s economy, a level not seen since Wilson was Prime Minister in 1969-70, when the figure hit 35pc.

Campaigners said Chancellor Philip Hammond ( pictured) must do more to cut taxes for ordinary people if the Tories want to stay in power and convince families that capitalism works.

Matt Kilcoyne, of the free market Adam Smith institute, said: ‘The Chancellor is picking the pockets of ordinary workers to fund his deficit reduction targets. His pledge to end public sector austerity will only be welcomed if it doesn’t force workers to impose their own personal austerity at home because of high taxes.’

The tax burden will hover at around 34.6pc until 2023-24, according to the office for Budget responsibility (oBr), higher than under the last Labour government, when it hit 33.7pc at most.

Much of the increase in taxes is driven by surging employment, with 3.5m more people in work since the Conservatives came to power in coalition in 2010.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, has fallen to 4pc, its lowest since the 1970s. When employment is higher more people pay national insurance and tax. rising wages also boost the take.

Pay is expected to grow by 3.1pc this year, with rises staying above 3pc for the following five years.

income taxes will make the biggest contribution to the state’s coffers this year, up from £180.6bn to £192.4bn, according to the oBr, followed by £137.7bn from national insurance and £131.7bn from VAT. income taxes will bring in £24.7bn more by 2025 than previously predicted by the oBr. it came as the Chancellor hailed the rising tax take for giving him more room as he seeks to cut borrowing. As a result, the deficit, which is the difference between the amount the Government spends and what it earns from taxes and other income, will be lower than previously thought.

it will total 1.1pc of national income this year, or £22.8bn. By 2023-24, it will drop to just 0.5pc of GDP or £13.5bn. Public debt will fall to 82.2pc of the size of the uK economy next year, and will drop until it hits 73pc in 2023-24.

Michael izza, chief executive of the institute of Chartered Accountants of england and Wales, said: ‘The improvement in the public finances means Philip Hammond has left himself the opportunity to open the chequebook in the Budget, if and when we have more clarity on Brexit.’