While UK residents pay an average of £4,398 per year, there are some towns where inhabitants pay almost four times that amount, a new report reveals.
Lying just within the confines of the M25, the towns of Esher, Walton on Thames and Weybridge, all in borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, have been found to make the biggest contribution to average income tax in the UK.
Accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young found the towns paid an average of £16,100 in income tax per person per year, £11,702 higher than the UK average of £4,398.
Residents of the borough include Elton John, ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Formula 1’s Jenson Button, a host of Russian oligarchs and Chelsea footballers, as well as Chris Tarrant, Gary and Danielle Linekar, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronny Wood and British tennis No 1 Andy Murray.
Tax yield: Elmbridge's 130,000 residents pay exceptional levels of tax even when compared to Britain's major citiesThey and the other 130,000 Elmbridge residents paid a total of £1.18billion in income tax last year, more than the total income tax paid by Glasgow’s 600,000 strong population (£898million), Sheffield (£812million), Cardiff (£589million), Newcastle (£443million) and even oil and gas rich Aberdeen (£728million).
More... Revealed: Debt time-bomb for taxpayers as 85% of students will NEVER pay off their loans Celebrities, bankers and football stars named as victims in £125m tax fraud case Amazon pays just 4.5% on European profit in tax haven of LuxembourgLondon remained top of the league for total income tax payments receive by the Exchequer last year with the total paid in income tax £33.7billion, underlining the contribution the capital makes to the wider British economy.
Greater Manchester residents paid the second highest amount of income tax at £4.4billion, followed by Liverpool (£2.19billion) and Leeds (£1.5billion). Birmingham contributed the next largest amount at £1.4billion. The research found the borough of Elmbridge came sixth on the list of total income tax paid.
Perhaps surprisingly St Albans came second on the list for the average income tax take per person at £10,900, followed by Windsor and Maidenhead in third at £10,200. London came fifth in the list where the average income tax paid per person stood at £8,580.
Of the 100 cities and towns the research looked at, Blackpool came the lowest for both total income tax paid (£159,000) and the average income tax take per person at £2,490 per person last year.
Table showing the top 10 districts with the highest average income tax bills per tax payer.
The report, which was based on information compiled by the Office of National Statistics and HMRC, showed the UK was becoming increasingly reliant on the wealthy Home Counties commuter belt for tax revenue.
Mark Giddens, head of private client services at UHY Hacker Young said: ‘There is a growing regional mismatch within England and Wales, with wealth and tax bills becoming concentrated within a handful of cities home to lucrative industries, or a collection of leafy suburbs.’
The ten places in the UK with the largest average income tax payments are all in the South East.
They included Wokingham, Guildford, Tonbridge and Malling, Reigate and Banstead, Wycombe and Dacorum Borough in Hertfordshire which includes Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted and Tring.
Luxurious: The riverside homes in Elmbridge, which is west of London, has attracted Britain's richest people and pays more income tax than any other area of the UKMr Giddens added: ‘Governments have attempted to boost the attractiveness of other regions in the UK to top earners, even encouraging some public sector organisations to relocate to different parts of the UK. However, the pull of the South East, culturally, politically, and financially is still very strong for the highest earners.
‘People assume that foreign High Net Worths live exclusively in Knightsbridge and Chelsea, but actually the figures suggest many have moved out into Surrey.’
Bottom 10 districts with the lowest average income tax bills per tax payer91. Sunderland (£2,920
96. Leicester (£2,740)
92. Barnsley (£2,920)
97. Sandwell (£2,580)
93. Wolverhampton (£2,890)
98. Kingston-upon-Hull (£2,560)
94. Caerphilly (£2,820)
99. Stoke-on-Trent (£2,560)
95. Torbay (£2,780)
100. Blackpool (£2,490)