VAT revenues rise to highest amount ever as HMRC pockets £157bn

HMRC collected a record £157.2bn from VAT bills in in the last tax year, a 55 per cent jump on the £101bn collected in 2020/21, after businesses were forced to make up for VAT payments they deferred during the pandemic.

Accountants have said that HMRC’s VAT income has risen sharply after the rate of VAT paid by the hospitality sector increase  to 20 per cent on 31 March last year.

The rate was temporarily reduced to 5 per cent during the pandemic to ease the burden on pubs, restaurants and hotels forced to close during lockdown.