Commuters contribute £52bn annually in income tax

TAXPAYERS IN LONDON and its surrounding commuter belt are paying around £52bn into the public purse annually, according to research by UHY Hacker Young.

Workers in the south east contribute double the UK average the top 20 firm found after dividing up British towns according to the average bill of each taxpayer. The result showed 28 of the top 30 areas are towns in Home Counties.

Taxpayers in those 30 areas contribute £9,463 on average every year, while those from Elmbridge in Surrey paid an average of £16,600 – the most in any district in the country and three times the UK’s £4,985 average.

Cumulatively, the area’s 73,000 populace paid more than £1.2bn. Elmbridge was closely followed by south Buckinghamshire, where 40,000 workers paid £540m in income tax, representing around £13,600 each.

UHY Hacker Young head of private client services Mark Giddens said: “The government is increasingly reliant on the wealthiest parts of the south eastern commuter belt and London for income.”

“The government has gradually increased the tax burden on high earners since the credit crunch. Higher taxation of wealthy individuals in the south east has proven to be an effective means to boost tax receipts, but these numbers will not make for pleasant reading for those affected.”