What this chart shows

↑ The takeaway

The UK raises 13× more from taxes on work than from taxes on wealth. The top 10% own 57% of all personal wealth — yet wealth taxes contribute just 7% of revenue.

A stacked bar chart of five major UK taxes: Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (taxes on work/earned income) versus Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax, and Stamp Duty Land Tax (taxes on wealth and capital). The visual contrast between the two groups is immediate and stark.

The UK raises roughly £450 billion per year from income tax and NICs alone — taxes that fall almost entirely on workers and their employers. By contrast, the three main wealth taxes together raise only around £34–35 billion. This is not because wealth is small — UK household wealth exceeds £15 trillion — but because wealth is taxed lightly, with numerous reliefs, exemptions, and lower rates.

Why it matters

A tax system that falls heavily on work and lightly on wealth has consequences: it redistributes from younger, working-age populations to older, asset-rich generations. It makes it harder to accumulate wealth through labour alone. And it means the fiscal system does little to reduce the concentration of wealth documented elsewhere on this site.

Methodology & data quality
Figures are an illustrative composite approximated from HMRC's published "Tax and NIC Receipts" tables, rounded for clarity rather than exact published outturn. Income Tax: PAYE + Self-Assessment, the largest single revenue stream. NICs: Employee + employer contributions, paid on earnings. CGT: Tax on gains when assets are sold above the annual exempt amount. IHT: Tax on estates above the nil-rate band at death. SDLT: Stamp Duty Land Tax on property purchases. The "work_pct" and "wealth_pct" columns show each group's share of the five-tax total (not all UK tax revenue — council tax, VAT, corporation tax etc. are excluded for clarity). Known caveats: This is a simplified framing. NICs partially fund state pension (a form of deferred wealth). Council tax is arguably a wealth tax. VAT falls on consumption. The 93/7 split refers only to the five taxes shown here.