A total of £1.35 billion was collected through August 2024, compared to £1.16 billion in the same month in the prior year.
Cara Spinks, Head of Life & Health at leading independent consultancy Broadstone, said: “With premium inflation impacting a variety of products and sectors, insurance premium tax remains a healthy source of income for the Treasury.
“Individuals purchasing health insurance products such as health cash plans and private medical insurance (PMI) are incurring this additional cost as they increasingly look to private healthcare to support their own health and wellbeing.
“However, it's employers that are largely driving the growth in demand for these products and many are expanding coverage and access to health insurance schemes to protect the health of their employees and reduce long-term sickness.
“The recent NHS inquiry has highlighted the serious nature of the challenges facing the NHS. This, and a growing awareness of personal health risk amongst the general population, means that demand for timely and preventative complementary healthcare remains strong, despite rising claim costs.
“Affordable access to the private healthcare market, particularly to more preventative forms of treatment such as health screenings, should be a key strategy for the government to alleviate pressure on the NHS and maximise economic growth by keeping people healthy and in work.
“Reducing or removing IPT for health insurance products may not be on the list for the upcoming autumn budget, but it ought to be a serious consideration if the government wants to incentivise businesses to protect the long-term health and productivity of the workforce and safeguard already stretched NHS resources.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
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