The government’s capital gains tax (CGT) receipts declined by 8.4 per cent in 2025, falling from £14.9bn to £13.6bn over the year, HMRC’s latest figures have shown.

Its monthly bulletin on tax receipts showed that CGT takes for December 2025 were £231m, down from £335m in December 2024.

In the 2025/26 tax year so far, CGT receipts have been around £1.8m below the tax take over the same period the previous year.

CGT rates were increased with immediate effect in the Chancellor’s first Budget in late October 2024.

Evelyn Partners managing director, Jason Hollands, noted that capital gains that are disclosed via self-assessment tend to lag in the data, so January and February 2026 will be “key months” to watch.

“This marked decrease in CGT receipts indicates that taxpayers are swerving this and the previous government’s crackdown on capital gains by sitting tight and deferring disposals, suggesting the futility of over-taxing investors and business owners,” he said.

“The CGT data from not just today, but the last few years and through history, suggests that investors either bring forward decisions ahead of anticipated changes or are deterred from crystallising gains afterwards, or both.

“This exposes the trouble with increasing the CGT burden: investors will change their plans and behaviour accordingly to avoid paying tax where they feel it is too high. In many cases, a more aggressive tax environment leads to lower rather than higher revenues.

“In summary, the data does not bode well for the Chancellor’s hopes that her CGT rate hikes will bolster the public purse over the coming years.”

HMRC’s update also revealed a continued increase in the government’s inheritance tax (IHT) receipts, which totalled £6.6bn in the 2025/26 tax year so far.

This represented an increase of 4 per cent, or £232m, compared to the same period in 2024/25, putting IHT on track to exceed last year’s total of £8.2bn and reach a fifth consecutive annual record.

“Despite a slowdown in the rate of growth, IHT receipts are on course for another record-breaking year underpinned by resilient property prices and asset inflation,” said Utmost head of technical services, Simon Martin.

“However, we may see behavioural shifts in the housing market as a result of the ‘Mansion Tax’ set to come into force from April 2028, which could yet temper the pace of future growth.

“The decision at Autumn Budget 2025 to maintain the freeze on nil-rate bands and allowances means that a growing number of estates will be drawn into the IHT net in the years ahead. When set against the structural changes announced a year earlier, IHT is becoming an ever more dependable source of revenue for the Treasury.

“Business owners and farmers did receive an early Christmas present in December, with the announcement by the Government to increase the 100 per cent Agricultural and Business Property Relief threshold to £2.5m.

"This, combined with the ability to transfer this threshold on first death to a surviving spouse or civil partner, will go some way to alleviating the concerns raised over this measure.

“All eyes now turn to the impact of including pension death benefits in an individual’s estate for IHT purposes from April 2027 onwards which will necessitate a major strategy shift in how families approach estate planning.”

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